This Will Be THE DAY!
by SSJeanne35
Summary: Izuku and Shoto awaken in a world a third their age and with faded memories of their past lives. Now living with kids who strive to be huntresses, they also yearn to become the heroes they want to be. However, when those lost memories begin to come back to them, they realize they've fallen into a war that causes both Remnant and their world to collide.
1. Prologue 1: Red and White

**Heyo. I'm back. Again.**

 **So in my poll it seems that there was one vote for the MHA/RWBY crossover, so it automatically wins by default, so, um, here it is! RWBY right now is my favorite animated web series, and _My Hero Academia_ was my favorite anime of 2017, and Season 3 (Which is coming out in April) is going to be _godly,_ despite how amazing Season 2 was. It's safe to say I have a lot of passion for this story, haha.**

 **It was supposed to come out on Valentine's Day, but I, um, forgot, so it's out two days later. Just um, imagine yourself reading it two days ago and bam! It came out on time.**

 **Anyways, that's enough of my rambling. This is just a prologue, a "Trailer", if you must, like the RWBY trailers before Volumes 1 and 5. In that sense, this is the "White and Red" Chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Volume 1**

Prologue 1- Red and White

 _Red and White conflict like day and night..._

Winter had fallen over the Schnee Manor. Its grandiose statues were frostbitten, and its beautiful summer fountains now running dry from the cold weather. The ground began to ice over in some places, and the grass grew the seasonal frost on the blade's tips. Stalactites grew over the archways of the stunning mansion. At the front entrance stood a fountain with a magnificent sculpture of a snowflake etched in glass.

A singular person stood in front of the extravagant design. His white dress shirt, pants, and boots went along with the icy climate around Schnee Manor perfectly. His medium length hair was split evenly down the middle with white on the right and red on the left. He had a turquoise left eye, and his right eye was gray, giving him heterochromia for both his eyes and hair.

He stood still, not even moving an inch, the rising and falling of his chest and the fog from his mouth were the only signs he wasn't a statue like the other dozens of figures that stood in and out of the manor. He gave a deep breath, slowly turning towards the magnificent mansion, took a couple steps forward, then stopped. Suddenly, a dome of blustery wind formed around him, the ice crystals in the air hindering his view of the outside. He turned his eyes back and forth; from left to right, trying to discern where _they_ were going to appear.

And there they were. Out from the dome crawled a Creature of Grimm. It's skin was pure white, contrasting its natural counterpart that had dark skin that was so black it seemed you were about to fall into an abyss of despair. Its eyes and spikes were azure, glowing with a menace that was just _like_ their ebony counterpart. It's shape was of that of a wolf, and four others just like the first materialized from the wind. The boy was surrounded on five sides, and to an outsider they would think he was a goner.

The Grimm from behind him pounced, its huge paws aiming to rip the boy to shreds. But he didn't move a muscle. Instead, the ground around the teen grew cold, and before the Grimm could even get close a huge spike of ice suddenly jutted from the ground, stabbing it right in the mouth and killing it instantly. The other four Grimm sprung into action, and he simply knelt down and placed his right hand on the ground. An icy aura grew as the four Beowolves tried to get the jump on him, but like their fallen comrade it was nothing but futile. A wave of pure blue ice shot out in all directions, skewering the four Grimm and piercing right into their hearts and causing them to dissipate. He sighed and stood back up, clearly dissatisfied. "Is that all you have, Winter?"

The dome that he was encased in suddenly grew in size; its radius becoming at least twice as large. A huge shadow of a Grimm began to materialize, it's shape looking somewhat of a giant gorilla. It stood at least twenty feet tall, dwarfing the white-redhead by a substantial amount. Once the Beringel was fully formed, it beat its chest and roared, its azure eyes glaring towards the human that, from its angle, looked so easy to crush. It raised its arms, wanting to smash its tiny enemy into the dirt.

"If you wet through all this trouble to summon it, I wish you would have prepared something better…" A circle of ice formed around him, and his right hand touched the ground once again. The ice encircling him suddenly spread out farther, and small glaciers formed from the ground as he began his attack on the Beringel. "Since our stupid old man is watching." He glanced to Schnee Manor, and a silhouette of a man sipping tea from the highest window could be seen. He grimaced, and brought his hand up and swung it forward, causing the glacier that was surrounding him to blast upwards towards the Beringel. It howled in pain as the ice collided with its body and began to hinder its movements despite its best efforts to escape. His attack encased the Grimm in frozen shackles, the cold being too much for the Beringel as it began to dsintergrate in the ice.

The boy sighed, watching the Grimm's aura fade away as he once again easily passed his sister's test with flying colors. She walked up to him, a stern look on her face and her hands dutifully behind her back. Winter Schnee watched as her youngest sibling, Todoroki Schnee, clenched his teeth in anger of his father. "Winter…" He began, "When will I be able to escape, like you did?"

"..." Winter Schnee hesitated. Despite being the youngest out of the Schnee family at only 14 years old, even younger than their detestable brother Whitley, Todoroki showed great talent as a fighter and certainly as a potential huntsman. His Semblance, _Ice_ , was something that no one in the Schnee family, not even Winter herself, could match in terms of raw power. There wasn't as much technique involved, as _Glyphs,_ Winter and Weiss' Semblance, required much time and dedication to hone your skills. However, Todoroki's Semblance seemed more...barbaric. Less fancy abilities and more bravado and power. "You'll just have to get better," She ended up saying, but Todoroki's reply was not something she expected.

"'Get better'?..." He said with an aggressive tone in his voice, "You saw what I did to that Beringel. At this point I should be out of this house and on my way to Beacon Academy…"

"I understand you have a lot of power in your Semblance," Winter explained in a calm voice, "But you rely on it too much. Instead of purely using your _Ice_ to battle, you should at least become more adept in hand-to-hand, or even pick up a weapon like your sister has."

"...Fine." His right side activated in built-up anger, and ice crystals formed on his torso and arms. Winter quickly took notice of her brother's eventual outburst.

"Shoto Todoroki Schnee." She commanded, "Calm down. If you keep going on this emotional path you will never escape our father," Winter put her hand on her brother's shoulder, "But if have a calmer mind, and know _exactly_ what path you want to take, then you will make it to Beacon, just like Weiss will." He nodded silently in response. The ice on his right side receded, and Winter let go of her brother. "Good. Now, go and retrieve Weiss. I must see how she has improved since the last time I trained you and her."

* * *

 **(Insert Volume 5 "Weiss" Trailer immediately afterwards)**

 **Yeah yeah, I know it's short, but it's a prologue, of course it is. This will be quite a long ride, so strap in and be prepared for, hopefully, some awesomeness. This is the biggest and best passion project I've ever written; My Hero Academia and RWBY are some of my favorite series to date.**

 **I'll be posting Prologue 2 in early March, between March 1st and 10th, most likely. _A Dark Future_ 's finale will be coming out on March 25th, AKA Dragon Ball Super's finale, and if everything works out, this story's FIRST chapter will come out on MHA's premiere on April 7th. **

**Be on the lookout. After months of silence, I'm finally getting a comeback! Yay!**


	2. Prologue 2: Green

**So you know how I said that I was going to release this prologue early March? Yeah, screw that.**

 **This prologue has been finished for the past week or two, just sitting on my documents just waiting to be published, and 24 hours after releasing the "White and Red" prologue I just couldn't take it anymore. So here it is. The first chapter will still be coming out on April 7th, however. I like posting chapters at the same time as the actual titles I'm fanfiction-ing, I dunno, it's just a habit of mine. Plus, it helps me stay ahead with my writing, something I've been doing abysmally at.**

 **Also, if you haven't figured it out yet, the title: "This Will Be THE DAY!", combines both RWBY and BnHA's first opening themes. I just found it cool that their names were similar, so I took it as the name.**

 **Well, let's get started with the "Green" Trailer!** **If you don't know, this takes place during Yang's search for her mom when she was a little kid.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Prologue 2- Green

 _Green is new and always growing; burdened by this final quest…_

It was the dead of night. The forest that sprawled over the small island of Patch was now gray and white, the once vibrant and green leaves now dead and crumpled on the snowy ground. The shattered moon was blocked by the silver cumulus clouds above, which were darkening by the minute, foreshadowing the snow that was soon to come again. A small dirt path cut through the forest, snaking through it like a serpent through the grass.

 _Must..._ And on that dirt path walked a girl. Her bright blonde hair that was tied into pigtails was messy and dirty from the miles she had traversed. She pulled along a red wagon, and inside was a more petite figure that was deep in slumber. Her red hood covered her body from the harsh cold, however the girl pulling her had no sort of protective clothing for the cold. But she kept going. _Find...my mother…_

Finally, she found the house she was sure she was looking for. It met all the right dimensions shown in the picture, but instead of it looking warm and homely it looked cold, dilapidated, and eerily absent of any and all life. She stepped toward it, every step quickening her heartbeat. She was scared, but the hint of anticipation was growing with every foot she got closer to the building.

And then one step she took was...rather unusual. Snow had piled up on the roadway, and the step she had taken was not of the crunch of snow, but of the slight give of...something. Wanting to know what it was, the blonde girl dropped the handle of the wagon and got to her knees, grabbing the freezing snow with her bare hands to dig up whatever she had accidentally stepped on.

She had dug about five inches deep before she saw the greenish hair in the snow. At first, her instinct was to back up in horror, but something told her to dig up whoever had been buried all the way. And so she took a deep breath, warming her hands with her exhalation as she prepared to dig them up.

The wagon stirred as she got to her knees. The blonde turned, and the young girl that had been soundly sleeping in the cart had awoken, and was yawning quite loudly and stretching her arms. The younger girl blinked her eyes awake, to notice her sister bent over, trying to uncover whatever, or _whoever_ , was down there. "Y-Yang?..." Her light voice was almost unheard in the blustery wind that had blown her cape sideways. "Where are we?...What are you doing…?"

"Ruby, help me out here," Yang demanded rather quickly. "I think someone's buried under the snow." Being only 8 and 6 years of age, respectively, the thought of being out in the brutal wilderness was not something that came to mind. More like a warm fireplace snuggled up in a blanket while your mother gives you a freshly baked cookie, but out here, they were on their own.

And yet, their desire to help whomever had been buried underneath the snow still lingered. Yang, for some odd reason, felt like she had an obligation to save them, and Ruby, being the younger sister and the one who looks up to Yang, takes notice of the bravery she was exhibiting and quickly followed her elder sister. Ruby grabbed a handful of snow, revealing little by little the body underneath the frost.

It didn't take long for Yang to notice the red eyes that were watching them in the barn. In a quick reaction of sisterly protection, Yang tackled Ruby to the floor as the dark body of the giant, wolf-like monster hurled towards them, barely missing their prone bodies by an inch as it turned mid air and skittered to a halt on the other side.

Both of their eyes were wide with terror as two more giant black wolves stepped from the building, their eyes filled with hatred and malice towards anything and everything living. The one that had pounced the duo retreated back into their formation, the three animals now cornering Yang and Ruby like a bunny being stalked by a fox. The younger girl had fallen in horror, her eyes shut tightly and her arms clinging to Yang's legs, as if begging her to end the nightmare. The blonde's body was trembling, fear creeping towards her legs as she tried to muster the courage to stand and protect some of the only family she had left. "Beowolves…" Yang fell to her knees. _This is it,_ she thought, _I went to go find my mom and this is what I get…_ She turned to Ruby; her poor sister's eyes filled with tears. _I'm sorry, Ruby…_

Fortunately for them, their pleads for help was answered.

Quick like lightning, two of the Beowolves screamed in agony as a giant silver blade cut into their black skin like a knife through butter, their bodies already dissipating into the wind. The third, the one that had first pounced on Yang and Ruby, took the opportunity to turn tail and run, but it only got about three steps away before being hacked into pieces. All of this took place in a matter of seconds to Yang, and all that remained was a man with black hair and a giant scythe in his hands. "Uncle Qrow…" Was all she managed to get out of her mouth.

"Heya firecracker," Qrow walked up to and knelt beside his nieces. "What are you two doing all the way out here?"

Yang paused for a moment, looking down onto the ground in shame. She spotted the tuft of hair still protruding from the snow as she began to pull out the picture she saw that was the catalyst for her journey.

"Uncle Qrow…" Ruby interjected, "there's someone under there…" She pointed towards the snowy earth, and at first, the man was confused at this gesture.

"Hm?" He examined what the blonde had been pointed to closer. His eyes widened as he saw the hair and small patches of exposed skin through the white snow. Qrow took action immediately; shoveling away chunk after chunk of frozen water until the figure was fully exposed. It was a boy, maybe around Ruby's age, if not a little younger. His eyes were closed, and the boy's face had only four freckles in a diamond pattern on either of his cheeks. His wild and curly green hair was sprinkled with snowfall, and his peachy skin was not particularly protected against the light blizzard going on at the moment, as he only had a white T-shirt and shorts to protect against the elements. "Crap…" Qrow muttered under his breath. "Yang, I'm going to have to use your wagon."

Qrow picked up the young boy, and thankfully found that there was still a pulse. He placed the kid in Ruby's wagon, laying him next to the girl before grabbing the handle and walking at a fairly quick pace. After a short while Yang's legs became exhausted, so Qrow offered to carry her on his back. They all backtracked, Yang occasionally telling the huntsman where she had gone so he can retrace his niece's steps. Then came silence.

Ruby lay in the wagon beside the unconscious boy. She had already removed her cape and used it as a blanket for the child, even though she was in need of it just as much as he was. To be honest, she was confused. Only a short while ago, Ruby was sleeping soundly in her bed, only to be woken up in the cold wilderness, almost get attacked by Grimm, and now there was a boy that they were taking home. Her youthful mind couldn't wrap its head around any of it. "So…" Her light voice had cut the silence, "Does this mean we're getting a brother, Uncle Qrow?"

"First we gotta see if he has a family in the first place," The huntsman felt his niece's breathing get steady on his back, so he just assumed that Yang was fast asleep from the exhaustion. "But considering that he was left out there for dead, any family that did have him were probably not the nicest of folks."

"Mm-mm…" Ruby shook her head despite Qrow not being able to see it, "Moms and Dads shouldn't leave their kids alone at all!"

"That's right, kiddo." Qrow agreed. He stopped for a moment, looking back at the two children sitting in the wagon. Ruby's silver eyes gleamed in the faint moonlight that was barely breaking through the clouds, and her hair blew softly in front of her face in the now gentle wind. The boy was still sleeping, and his curly green-black hair was messy around his scalp. He looked a little younger than Ruby, maybe about a year, so if Taiyang were to make a decision to officially adopt him, he'd be the youngest of the three. "If it all works out," Qrow fixed his eyes to Ruby, "maybe your father might have another addition to the family after all."

"Yay!" Ruby shouted aloud. "I'm getting-"

* * *

"A brother, huh?" Qrow stepped into the formerly unused room of the Xiao Long-Rose family. Well, not stepped, more like clumsily stumbled. He was drunk. Just a little. But the amount of alcohol running through his system couldn't numb the importance of the circumstance; they found a boy, seemingly with no family, and no home. As soon as Taiyang Xiao Long was informed of this, he immediately went to work to adopt him. _No child should go unparented._ He had said, _It makes me sick._ "Yang and Ruby must be excited."

"Mhm…" Taiyang touched the child's forehead. It was cold, but not as cold as it was three days ago. It took an excessive amount of heating Dust to even warm the boy up to stable temperatures.

It was a fairly empty room; wooden walls, a light green carpet, two small windows that gave a sufficient amount of sunlight and a singular twin-sized bed in the corner. Taiyang was looking over a small, almost frail child in the covers. "Y'know, It's been three days after your daughters and I found him. A sleep this long really isn't healthy."

"Comas aren't healthy at all," Taiyang muttered, "But overall he's doing okay. Besides the slight malnourishment of not eating, he's stable, mostly."

"What do you mean, _mostly_?" Qrow inquired.

"Sometimes I hear him...saying things…"

"Like what?"

"Well, to name a few: _I am here; All might; One for all_. I have no idea what the kid's saying."

"Did he manage to say his name at all?" Qrow took out a flask and took a rather long swig of it. "That would help." He glanced at the child again. His breathing was shallow, indicated by the quick rising and falling of his fragile chest under the blanket. The expression on his face was unusually stern for a five-year-old. "Maybe we can use that information to figure out where the hell he came from. I mean, who the hell leaves their child out in the snow?"

"It's awful..." Taiyang agreed. He was now kneeling next to the small cot and lay his hand over the kid's forehead. "He's still a little cold. It's a good thing you found him when you did, or else his body temperature may have been fatal, especially for someone his age…" Suddenly, a knock on the door disrupted the blonde's train of thought.

"Is he awake yet?" Said a light, timid voice from the other side of the closed door. "I wanna see my little brother!"

"I got it." Qrow said as he sipped from his flask one more time before hiding it. The huntsman opened the door, only to see a red blur zip from the doorway and next to the bed. "Woah! Slow down kiddo."

"I can't help ittttt," Ruby Rose removed her hood as she pondered towards the kid sleeping in the bed. "I've never had a brother before! I wonder what he's gonna be likeee!" She poked the child right on the nose, making a "boop" noise. "He looks so cuteeee!"

"He does, Ruby, he does." Taiyang rubbed the older child's head. "And once I have all of the paperwork done, we'll have a new member of the family."

"Yayyy!" Ruby exclaimed, thrusting her small fist in the air. "I'm gonna be the best big sister! Right, Uncle Qrow?" She turned to her slightly drunken uncle, who was watching the scene from the corner of the room. Once he opened his mouth to speak, however, the sleeping child began to stir. "Ooh! He's waking up, he's waking up!"

"About time…" Qrow murmured as he kicked off the wall and stepped toward the bed. Everyone was silent as the child's eyes went from tightly shut to loosely closed to partially open. He blinked, his eyes now open fully and staring up at the ceiling.

"You're awake!" Ruby's high-pitched voice cut through the silence instantaneously. The boy almost jumped out of the bed at the surprising greeting, backing up from the girl who he now had his sights on. "I'm Ruby Rose, nice to meet ya!"

"Uh…" He took a look around the small room he was in. He was laying in a bed, surrounded by two adults and a child who looked very happy to see him. _Wh...what?..._ The five-year-old's mind was racing, which almost overloaded his brain with new stimulus that children shouldn't experience. He felt like a baby who was just born-being smiled upon by their loving parents-only his "parents" seemed to have relieved and yet slightly concerned looks on their faces. "Where…? What?..."

"What's your name, kid?" Qrow said rather quickly.

"I…Izuku…" He said it as though he had trouble remembering his own name. Ruby's face beamed, as she now knew the name of her potential new brother, but Taiyang took his hesitation with concern.

"What city are you from?" Taiyang asked. Izuku blinked as the father of Yang asked that question, as if he didn't know what he had asked in the first place.

"Um...I don't...know…" Izuku struggled to get out his words. Inwardly, his five-year-old mind was trying its best to make sense of the situation. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who the people who were speaking to him were.

Heck, he didn't even know where he _came from._ All he really knew was English, his name, and who he was as a person, and considering he was still a very young and naive child, his personality was one that needed to be built up more.

In summation, he was clueless.

"How about Kingdoms?" Qrow asked, and Izuku's head turned towards the older looking man at the foot of his cot. "Which kingdom are you from: Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, Atlas?"

"What are those?..." Izuku asked innocently. However, the reply to the question set off alarms in both Taiyang and Qrow's head. The four kingdoms of Remnant are common knowledge to literally _everyone_. The fact that Izuku didn't have a clue what they were was cause for more concern.

"This isn't good…" Qrow turned towards Taiyang, who gave a subtle nod in reply. Suddenly, the scroll in Qrow's pocket went off, and the huntsman growled silently as he checked it. "Great, it's Oz again. I'll check back with you tomorrow." The man shoved the scroll back in his pocket before walking out.

"Bye Uncle!" Ruby waved towards the huntsman at the doorway, who gave a knowing wave before disappearing around the corner.

"So…" The little red hooded girl hopped onto the bed beside the boy, who jerked backwards in timid response. "You're my little brother, huh?"

"I...I think so?"

"Great! That means I gotta show you around the house!" She grabbed the boy's wrist, literally dragging the just-recovered kid out of the bed and running with him down the hallway. "That's my sister's room!"

"Ruby, he's awake!" Another, slightly older feminine voice shouted from down the hall.

"I know! Izuku, this is my sister, Yang! And I guess she's your sister now, too!"

Taiyang smiled as he heard the three kids he now had to solely take care of have a sudden cheerful conversation, juxtapose to the solemn one that they had had just a moment ago. Was he concerned for the boy? Well, yeah, considering his most excitable daughter had just dragged him out of the room by his arm, but he figured he'd interrogate his new son on where and what had happened to him when he got older, and just let his daughters teach him the ways of the world for him. In other words, "Kids will be kids…" He whispered to himself. He sighed, closing the door behind him. Something told him that kid was going to be a lot of work, not delinquent wise, but simply growing-up wise. "I have a lot of work ahead of me…" Taiyang whispered to himself.

Little did he know, he would be 100% correct.

* * *

 **With that, the main story has begun.**

 **Yeah, I know, I'm not the best at writing kids, but I think making Ruby a sweet little bundle of joy was the right decision. I mean, she's still a bundle of cuteness when she's 15 (I'm 16 so I'm allowed to say that, weirdos), so it makes sense.**

 **I am also aware this chapter brings up more questions then answers, and to that I say: Good! It would be weird if all of the answers were given in just the trailers, so just be patient if some things don't make sense yet. They'll be answered soon.**

 **So, to recap all of this, Izuku is with Ruby and Yang, and Shoto's with Weiss. Just to let you all know, Shoto will be referred to as "Todoroki" in this story, as "Shoto Schnee" sounds kind of dumb. He still has that name, but only his family calls him by it. Izuku and the rest will be calling him "Todoroki".**

 **Alright, April 7th. As a small hint, it'll be taking place during Yang's Volume 5 Character Short.**

 **See ya until then!**


	3. SMASH!

**A/N: So...screw it!**

 **I've written almost 40k words; currently approaching the end of Volume 1. Considering I already have a fair amount of writing done, I thought...why not release the first chapter early?**

 **Yes, I am releasing it early and am not keeping to my schedule (April 7th is chapter 1, at least 2-3 chapters a month), but hey, early's better than late. I'm also afraid that I might forget to release it on that day considering MHA Season 3's hype. I am SO excited for that Season. To the people who only watch the anime...you have _so_ much in store for you. And don't worry; this story won't have any manga spoilers _this_ early. Later Volumes? Maybe...**

 **Just so you know, this chapter takes place during Yang's Volume 5 Character Short. Enjoy :P**

 **P.S. I guess this could be the Green Trailer Part II since it doesn't go on to the _main_ main story, but oh well.**

* * *

Chapter 1- SMASH!

"Oh jeez..." Yang sighed as she saw Ruby's almost pathetic excuse for a fighting stance. The younger girl charged, her fist waving wildly as it flailed around its actual target. Yang scoffed, sidestepping her sister and simply tripping her with her boot and causing her to yelp and fall flat on her face. "C'mon, sis! Is that really all you've got?"

"Yaaang," Ruby whined loudly as her elder sister picked her off the ground, "I already told you! I'm not cut out for hand to hand...I'd much rather use my beautiful Crescent Rose…" Suddenly Ruby went into a temporary fangirl mode as she imagined the giant maroon and black scythe in her head. She'd _totally_ beat her sister if she had it right now.

"That's _exactly_ why I didn't want you to bring it." Yang explained, much to Ruby's dismay. "You're gonna have to learn to fight without using your weapon so often. What happens on the off chance it breaks? What will you do then?"

"I'm not really sure if my scythe's blade can break…" Ruby muttered under her breath, "But I get your point…"

"Good." Yang patted her sister on the back, "Now, go take a break, you've been at this for a while." Ruby nodded, darting over to a shaded tree, which had another person resting in its shade.

"I think Yang wants you now." Ruby said rather timidly as she walked up to the person under the branches, but he didn't seem to hear her. The boy Ruby was trying to address was sitting on a log, wearing a plain white long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants. He was nose-deep in a notebook, jotting down sentence after sentence like a prolific writer that had finally broken their writer's block.

"ItseemsthatRubyisn'tasgoodinhandtohand, butYang'spunchesalsoseemtohavealotofweightbehindthem. MaybeIcanusethattomyadvantageandtrytoimbalanceher?...No,thatprobablywon'twork…"

"*Ahem*." Ruby cleared her throat, which seemed to get the boy's attention. His sea green eyes shifted up to Ruby, who had her arms crossed like a scolding mother. "C'mon, Izuku! I think our sister wants to beat you up."

"So I guess it's my turn?" Izuku closed his notebook and lay it on the log. As he stood up, he asked, "How did you do, Ruby?" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, to which his older sister rolled her eyes.

"What do you think?" She rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to talk about her horrible failure, "I'm horrible at hand-to-hand. If only Yang let me bring my weapon..."

"Oi!" Yang yelled a little ways away, "You're not gonna make me wait all day, are ya?"

Ruby smirked, "Go get 'em, bro."

"I'll try my best." _I'm screwed._

It was nine years after the incident in the woods of Patch. Yang, now a cheerful teen of 16, was well on her way to graduating Signal and going to her dream school- Beacon Academy. Ruby, only 14, was still a first-year of Signal Academy, but her advanced skills in the battlefield when paired with Crescent Rose was almost unmatched in her age group, especially when you take into account her Speed Semblance.

Then there was Izuku. Being younger than Ruby by over a year, he was the youngest of the three. He had no such semblance, at least, not yet. "You'll discover it eventually," his sisters would constantly say to him, but he figured that if Yang and Ruby had discovered theirs at a young age, it was already too late for him. He went into a normal boarding school, only taking fighting lessons from his battle-raised family on the weekends. _This isn't right..._ he would constantly say to himself. _I wanted to be a huntsman...and yet...with no Semblance…_

 _How could you?_

He took a deep breath, which calmed his nerves and locked his emotions in a box that would most certainly break later, but he had to focus. "Fight with a cool head," his dad Taiyang would say to him every time they sparred, "You'll find it more effective. Trust me, Yang's trying to get the gist of that fact as well." He got into position, mere feet away from where his sister was standing.

Yang smirked, "Just so you know, I'm not gonna go easy on you just because you're a boy." The busty blonde got into a fighting stance, which was much more refined than what her sister had just a few moments ago.

Her brother got into the similar pose; one fist in front of the other, guarding his torso and head. It wasn't as good as his elder sister's, but it definitely shows that he has had much more experience with hand-to-hand than Ruby. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way arou-AH!"

Izuku barely had time to register Yang's first attack; a wide right hook aimed straight for his cheek. The green-haired boy barely evaded her attack, and managed to deflect the second attack Yang threw, which was telegraphed just after her first swing at him. He stepped to the side, and the blonde reacted quickly and swung her left arm around and slammed it into his forearm, knocking him backwards. His boots skidded to a halt a few arm-lengths away from his sister. "No, that phrase was perfect the way it was. This is a female-dominated household, after all."

"Well, technically Dad makes it even…" Izuku muttered under his breath.

"When it comes to teenagers. Both Ruby and I are older than you, so yes, my statement holds u-" Izuku lunged forward, his fist aimed right for Yang's nose. The blonde's reflexes kicked in, and instead of hitting her right between the eyes the punch was caught with her left. She swung with her right, and her brother brought his arm up to parry the blow. They found themselves locked in a temporary stalemate; Izuku's fist stuck in Yang's palm and Yang's elbow was blocked by Izuku's forearm.

"Wow, he sure has improved…" Ruby was watching their sparring a little ways away with an amazed look on her face. "I remember when I used to beat him sometimes…"

"You're good, bro." Yang grinned rather evilly. "But not good enough." She pushed her brother away and immediately delivered a hard roundhouse kick. Izuku ducked, and Yang literally leaped over him as she finished her attack, spinning back around to bring her guard up as she charged. Yellow and Green collided once again: a series of punches from one side was parried by the other, and vice versa. However, the tide began to turn as Yang's semblance slowly began to activate with every hit that got past her guard. Before, they were evenly matched, but now the boy found himself on the defensive as the blonde started to gain ground and push him back. "C'mon! Dig deeper!"

"I'm...trying..!" He suddenly found a tiny hole in Yang's guard and took the opportunity and slammed his fist into her body.

Unfortunately, his fist dug into the blonde's breast. When he felt where he had punched he both blushed in embarrassment and anticipated the worst. He knew that Yang pretty much lashed out at anyone and _everyone_ who pushed her buttons. The only person who was immune to her anger was Ruby. And unfortunately for him, he wasn't Ruby. _Crap…_

"Gr…" Yang's eyes turned red with rage, and suddenly the thought that "Izuku is my brother and therefore I will not hurt him" became a fuzzy afterthought to her. She screamed out in passionate fury and fired a mighty blow that had almost every ounce of her anger within her. Izuku saw the attack coming and crossed his arms in front of his body to block the blow, but the amount of raw energy within Yang's rage-filled punch was too much for him to handle. He was literally blasted away, zooming through the air at a breakneck speed across the clearing in the forest. He crashed right through a tree, the wood shattering into pieces as he flew past the splinters and beyond.

"Well…" Yang exhaled, and her scarlet irises reverted back to the calmer lilac as she watched her brother's body smash through tree after tree until the forest's foliage blocked her view. She sighed, dusting her chest off where her brother had hit her. "At least he lasted longer than you, sis."

"Hey, shut up!" Ruby whined, sticking out her tongue rather immaturely. "If I had Crescent Rose I'd do so much better against you…"

"Maybe." Yang said as she walked up to Ruby and swished down a water bottle that was resting on the log. She crushed it when she emptied it. "So, you're gonna go and get him, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Ruby rubbed the back of her head before zipping away as a crimson blur towards where Yang had blasted their brother, red rose petals being the only thing indicating her path.

 _Y'know, that's the only think Ruby has over me,_ Yang thought, _Speed. Travel speed, at least, not fighting speed._ She rested on the log, taking in the surrounding nature as she waited for Ruby and Izuku to return.

"Izuku…" She said her brother's name aloud. _What a peculiar name_ , she thought. _Just like our childhood._ Thoughts of her, Ruby and Izuku growing up began flooding her mind. She looked back on the time that her and her sister had brought out a huge map of Remnant and teaching Izuku the Kingdoms, Cities, and Academies…

" _What's that place?" Little Izuku pointed at towards left end, which had a bronze symbol with three sword-like objects emblazoned on the map._

" _That's Vacuo," Yang explained. "It has a bunch of thieves and bad guys over there."_

" _I don't like that place." Ruby said._

" _Me neither…" Izuku agreed, now looking at a different spot on the map, "What about that place?"_

" _Ooh! Ooh!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, "That's Beacon Academy! Me and Sis wanna go there when we're older!"_

" _What do they teach there?" Izuku asked._

" _They teach you how to fight with weapons and stuff! I already know what my weapon's gonna be; it'll be like Uncle Qrow's!"_

" _A scythe?"_

" _Mhm!" Ruby eagerly shook her head, "Here, I even have a drawing of it!" She pulled out a drawing of the weapon of her dreams, although the drawing was rather elementary in style, and it was obvious that Ruby could not keep in the lines._

" _Woah!" The boy looked at the drawing with intrigue. "That looks cool!" He noticed the name of the weapon that Ruby wrote on the bottom, "'Crescent Rose'?"_

" _Ye!" The little hooded redhead smiled brightly. "What's your weapon gonna be when you go to Beacon?"_

" _Um…" The green haired child pondered this for a moment. "I dunno...I'll have to think about that."_

" _C'mon guys," Yang, being the oldest sibling of the trio, managed to calm them down again, "Let's teach you about more Kingdoms, Izuku! Now, this one's Atlas…"_

Yang smiled. _Good times._

A rustle in the bushes caused the busty blonde to break out of her daydream. A snap of a stick and some very obvious footsteps made it clear that _something_ was there, but what? Yang got off her seat, assuming it was just Ruby playing some sort of prank on her. "Ruby? Is that you?"

Red eyes gleamed back at her, surrounded by pure darkness as the shape of a giant bear-like monster burst from the brush. An Ursa Major stepped forward, it's roar loud enough to cause even Yang to take a step back.

"A challenge, I see." Her Ember Celicas activated; turning from fancy wrist guards to full on golden gauntlets. "Bring it on."

* * *

A few...dozen, meters away, A green-haired boy was just starting to recover from the strike he had just taken. Izuku sat up, his head and chest throbbing with pain. "Ah, jeez…" He wiped off the dust and dirt from his shirt before managing to get to his feet. "Yang could have at least held back…"

He looked around, noticing his vision was a little blurry. _Okay...control yourself..._ He wobbled over to a nearby tree, using it as support to steady his eyesight and balance. "Well, she is pretty dang strong, that's for sure…" He looked back to the path of destruction Yang had sent him through; at least 5-6 trees were ripped to shreds as he was slammed through their trunks and the topsoil was exposed to the elements due to the sheer force of her blast. Yang's path of destruction was in the shape of a giant cone, and Izuku found himself at the very edge of said cone.

"Izuku!" A crimson blur shot from out of the foliage and into sight. Izuku's sister skidded to a halt as soon as she got close to him. "Yang really did a number on ya, huh?"

"Yeah…" The green-haired huntsman-to-be stared back at the destroyed vegetation, "Her Semblance is amazing…"

"I'll say," Ruby helped her brother stand by wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Let's head back, now." It was a fairly short walk, and the two maintained silence as they traversed the undergrowth of the forest of Patch.

A roar broke the quietness, and Ruby's head perked up in sudden concern for her sister. She turned her head to the only boy of the trio, and the boy seemed to understand the implied message. "Go, I'll catch up."

Ruby gave a quiet nod and let go of Izuku, and zipped away at an incredible speed, leaving behind rose petals that fluttered down to the grass. Izuku stumbled forward, his balance still a bit iffy from the shot that Yang hit him with. He staggered from tree to tree, slowly making his way back to the training grounds and the clearing in the forest.

Another roar rattled through Izuku's eardrums. _Oh no..._ He feared the worst. Bringing up every ounce of strength he could muster, the boy broke into a run, and within a moment found himself almost back to where he had started. He put a hand on a nearby tree to steady himself, and just in front of him stood Ruby, who was looking at-

-One of the biggest Grimm he had ever encountered. It was at least 12 feet tall on its hind legs. Its black, murky skin was emitting a dark fog around the beast, and gray spikes and plates were dotted around it's large body, giving it huge 3-foot spines that jutted out of its back. The Ursa Major's bony, elongated face accentuated its wrathful red eyes and sharp, serrated teeth.

Not to far from the Grimm stood his sister, Yang. Using her Ember Celicas as a boost she darted towards the Grimm's open maw, blasting its face with a right hook and shot of Dust from her golden gauntlet. The bear retaliated with a huge right paw, which Yang managed to block and, holding the paw with one hand, punched the monster square in the jaw. The Ursa roared in frustration, and Yang backed up from the Grimm for a moment before charging in again, but this time the Ursa was ready. It smacked the huntress sideways, sending the blonde through the dense undergrowth of the forest at speeds strong enough to break through wood-which she did.

Ruby gasped at the sight of her sister being tossed aside like an unappetizing dish. She covered her mouth to conceal her fear, but it was too late. Like a wolf sniffing out its next meal, the Ursa took notice of the silver-eyed girl and stalked toward her. It gave a bloodcurdling roar before stampeding towards the young huntress, and all Ruby could do was just stand there, unmoving. Fear overcame her body as each step of the Grimm made her death more and more likely. _If only I had Crescent Rose..!_ She fell backwards, her hands in front of her face as she pleaded in her mind to will the Grimm to stop. But it didn't.

It was merely arm's length away when both her and the Grimm a yell from behind her.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" A green blur sped past Ruby, almost as if he had stolen her Semblance. The Grimm barely had any time to react as Izuku's arm became enflamed in an electric aura, his veins seeming to glow with a newfound power.

* * *

Izuku seemed to lose all control of himself when he saw Ruby in danger. Something...overcame him, driving him to jump in the fray and save her. He squatted down, and his legs felt like they were about to erupt with a strength he had never felt before. He kicked off, and for some reason the ground trembled around him as he took off, the trees and earth shaking before the strength he was outputting.

As the green huntsman-to-be zoomed towards the Grimm, something appeared in his mind, as if it had intentionally lodged itself in his memory even though he had no recollection of it. A man, with a deep, enthusiastic voice boomed in his head.

 _A person's true character is revealed when they're faced with danger,_ it said, _But there is opportunity._ _A chance to shine!_ The green-haired teen pulled his arm back, and the entire limb bulged as his veins illuminated with an unforeseen power. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the Ursa at unquantifiable speeds. _So clench your buttcheeks, kid...and yell this, from the depths of your heart!_

" _SMASH!"_

A flash of an unknown memory overcame him as he _smashed_ the Grimm with the force of a hundred Atlas-issued bombs. He found himself in the air, his fist striking a robot the size of a skyscraper. The humongous automaton shattered under the weight of his blast, the initial blow sending its circuits into haywire as it broke from the head down. His vision shifted back to normal, but instead of seeing himself punch the Grimm, he found himself lying in the grass. Looking up, he found no Grimm in sight, not even the characteristic smoke that they emitted when they died. It was all gone.

And apparently, a gigantic chunk of the forest was too. Facing the area he had punched was a cone shaped crater, with chunks of organic matter scattered among the ruins. Trees were uprooted, and thousands of birds from miles in all directions took to the skies in reaction to the massive blow Izuku had just delivered. Izuku couldn't even process what he had just witnessed. _What…_

"The hell…" Yang's voice resounded in his ears. He had trouble hearing, for some odd reason, but could still make out his sister's voices.

"Was that?!" Ruby screamed excitedly. "Izuku! Was that your Semblance?! Did you just discover it?!"

"Seriously bro, you literally blew away half the forest, _and_ the Grimm! I'm almost jealous!"

"I…" Izuku could barely get the words out of his mouth. Exhaustion quickly took over his body, his body fading in and out of sleep before his tiredness overrode his will to stay awake, and he lost consciousness.

* * *

Izuku's eyes shot open. _Where?..._ He looked around, and found himself in a dark room, with the only light being the giant monitor that everyone around him was looking at. He didn't recognize a single person, but the one at the front looked fairly important. His back was turned, but Izuku took note of the blue cape and the long blonde hair with two large locks that stuck up in the air. Everyone seemed to be silent as they intently watched the monitor, so Izuku decided to do the same.

On the screen stood two people: One had weird limbs protruding from his arms that were stuck together like frog feet. The other was a teen with white hair on the right side of his head, and Izuku could barely see hints of the red hair that was covered by the layer of ice covering his left side. At first, Izuku thought this was strange.

Then it got even stranger as the teen put his right hand on the wall in the hallway, sending a layer of ice surging through the multi-story building. Within the space of a few seconds the whole building was encased in ice, including the room he was standing in. Everyone began to shiver, but for some odd reason he couldn't feel the cold.

The scene shifted to a man in a gi, with a giant tail out of his back. His bare feet were stuck in the ice, and his arms were in a futile fighting stance. The white-redhead from before entered the room, his one eye that was covered was replaced with a red dot that glowed brightly. His presence unnerved both his opponent in the martial arts uniform and himself. _That guy has an odd aura...It's...calm, but at the same time intimidating…_

"You can move if you want," The teen said with a subtle grin of victory on his face. "But the skin on your feet will come off, and you won't be able to fight at your best." He literally walked right past him, not batting an eye at his opponent as he simply walked up to the bomb (he assumed it was a replica for a training exercise or something) and placed his left hand on it.

"Hero team wins!" The announcer exclaimed. The teen's left side then went into action, and a wave of heat emanated from his palm. The cold melted away, and the ice slowly dissipated into water and steam until it was all gone.

"Sorry," He apologized to the teen in the martial arts uniform, "But our difference in strength was too great."

"And you…" His voice heightened, which caught Izuku's attention. The boy was staring right at the camera, and therefore right through to the monitor. He seemed to be staring daggers right into him, which sent a literal and metaphorical shiver down Izuku's spine. "I'm going to come and find you. Just watch me…"

* * *

"Oi, Izuku!" The busty blonde's brash voice caused the dream cut off prematurely. Izuku's eyes popped open, and he quickly realized that he wasn't outside anymore-he was in his bed, resting. Adjacent to his mattress was Ruby, who was sitting on the bedside closest to him while Yang sat on a chair next to him. "How are ya? You were out for a while...8 hours, at least!"

"Jeez…" He scratched the back of his head and tried to sit up, only to realize that his legs were a lot harder to move. He uncovered the sheets to find they "-are broken?!"

"Well, look who's awake." A new voice entered the room from the hallways. Taiyang Xiao Long walked in with a tray full of various food, placing it on the bedside table. "Y'know, you're lucky to have such great sisters. I don't think Ruby ever took her sight off of you ever since I patched you up."

"Nope! Never let him out of my sight!" Ruby exclaimed, and then instantly crossed her legs together. "In fact, I've been holding it in for the past three hours! Ahem, excuse me…" She rushed out the door faster than a kid seeing an ice cream truck outside their house.

"So…" Izuku smirked as he watched his sister sprint down the hall and into the washroom, "I guess my legs are broken now, huh?" He looked down at both of his legs, which were wrapped in bandages from the knee down.

"Yup," Yang explained, "Whatever stunt you pulled back there split your tibias and fibulas in half. You're lucky Dad knows how to reset bones and put on a cast, or else help would have taken a lot longer, since we live in the countryside."

"Yeah, speaking of," Taiyang took another seat by Izuku, "Do you remember what happened that _caused_ your legs to break so easily?"

"Hm…" Izuku recalled back to when he had fought the Ursa. "I remembered...taking off, extremely fast…maybe even faster than Ruby's Semblance…"

"And then you smacked that Ursa right out of the air!" Yang exclaimed, jumping out of her chair, "You literally destroyed half the forest with one punch!"

Taiyang attempted to wrap his head around the whole situation. It was a little weird that Izuku didn't have a Semblance when his sisters had already discovered theirs. When both Ruby and Yang were both eight and nine respectively, they realized their Semblances: Speed, and basically a tantrum for extra power. However, It took Izuku, the youngest out of the three, five extra years for his Semblance to finally be revealed? "You jumped at an incredibly fast speed, which would imply some sort of speed Semblance…but then you punched the Grimm with enough force to tear down a small forest..."

"...Which would probably mean some sort of overpowered Strength Semblance." Yang finished, "But how come your arms didn't break but your legs did? Didn't you use the same power to take off and hit that Grimm?"

"Maybe…" Izuku stared at his arm, and besides the fact that his sleeve was torn up to his shoulder, his arm looked intact and healthy. "Maybe it has to do with the fact that I hit a Creature of Grimm, and maybe since I hit something purely malicious, there was no backlash from my hit?" Izuku tried to make sense of his attack. And in a way, it made sense: Izuku hit a monster made of pure evil with a Semblance of pure light. He sensed it when his arms and legs lit up with a power that was literally never before seen. There was something meritorious about his new semblance, something...righteous, good. "And that would explain why my legs are broken too, because I used it on the ground, which isn't evil."

"At least I hope so...you never know when the floor might rebel against us. We do walk over its face a lot." Yang joked, causing Izuku to snicker at her jest.

"It's all speculation, for now…" Taiyang checked Izuku's legs one more time before getting up, "Well, I'll be downstairs. Call for me if you need anything, Izuku."

"Sure! I will. Thanks!" Taiyang gave a knowing wave before leaving and heading down the stairs.

"Welp, since Dad's headin' out, I should too." The blonde got up from her chair, stretching her arms as she made her way toward the door. "See ya, _Deku._ "

"Wait, what?" Deku raised an eyebrow, "Where'd you get that name?" _No one's called me that, so why is my sister calling me that?_

"I heard you mumble it in your sleep," The blonde turned around, now backing up towards the door, "I think it's a cute name. Imma call you that from now on."

"O-Okay then." Deku smiled as Yang gave a wink and exited the room, leaving the green-haired teen with his own thoughts.

For about five seconds and then Ruby burst through the door and wrapped her brother in a sudden embrace. For a moment, Izuku almost pushed her away out of shock from the surprising hug, but began to feel the warmth of Ruby's hug. It was really comforting, and he reciprocated by hugging her back. "So um, I forgot to say this earlier," Ruby said with a sheepish tone in her voice, "but thank you for saving me out there, Izuku...I dunno what would have happened if you didn't step in…"

"It's nothing, really…" Izuku humbly stated.

"'It's nothing'?!" Ruby broke out of the hug but still held his shoulders with her hands, "You broke your legs for me, bro! We're like, bonded for life and stuff!"

"Y-Yeah!" Izuku nodded, "I guess we are then!" He pulled her in for a second hug, "By the way, thanks for keeping an eye out for me while I was recovering…"

"You see, now _that's_ nothing, really." Ruby teased, "I'm your big sis! Of course I'd do that for you!" There was a moment of silence before the girl's tone of voice shifted from sentimental to mischievous. "So…"

"I don't really like your tone-"

"'Deku', huh?"

"Aw, c'mon!"

* * *

 **A/N: I really liked writing this chapter.**

 **Not only am I a fan of writing sibling relationships, but I also enjoy world-building. What Deku had experienced with his very first _One For All_ punch...there's a lot of implied stuff that I want to tell you all now but can't because that would spoil the magic of Deku's new "Semblance". **

**Speaking of _One For All,_ I need to tell you how it works in this story before you all go saying, "But Izuku should have broken his arm punching the Grimm!" Well, if it was anything else, yes. But here, no.**

 **Why? For one simple reason: One For All is the cultivation of strength and righteousness. It's quite literally the most "good" power you can ever get in any anime; probably right behind Goku's Spirit Bomb, which is made of _pure,_ positive energy.**

 **One For All is "One" power "For" the sake of "All" the people. Now, what are Grimm? Creatures that want to _destroy_ the people. One For All is meant to _protect._ **

**Yes, scientifically, Izuku's arm should have been as shattered as his legs when he took off; but since this story is also half RWBY, I'm giving it a special property: It's an Anti-Grimm power, put bluntly. That means that every ounce of strength Izuku uses to hit the Grimm will be _wholly_ absorbed into their bodies, literally obliterating them with _no_ bounceback to affect his arm. On anything else, though; walls, floors, regular creatures, etc., Izuku's arm will break. Grimm are the only exceptions.**

 **As a side note, I _love_ writing the Trio's dynamics. I really want them to feel like an actual sibling relationship, so if you did actually feel that, please let me know. If not, tell me so I can tweak it down the road. I guess that goes for all of my writing in general.**

 **Speaking of writing, chapters usually won't be that short; in fact, this is actually the shortest. Expect a mean of between 6-7k works, that's the length I'm aiming for.**

 **Well anyways, that's Chapter 1. I'm going to be releasing Chapter 2 when Chapter 1 was supposed to come out; April 7th. Be on the lookout for that.**

 **C'ya until then!**


	4. Ruby and Izuku Rose

**'Sup. Tomorrow's the day, isn't it?**

 **For those who have no idea what I'm talking about (presumably RWBY-only fans; in which case I ask why you'd even be in the crossover section in the first place but whatever it's your life), _My Hero Academia_ Season Three is about to make its debut! I can assure you that, being a Manga reader, this season will be just as awesome as the last, if not more. **

**As for the RWBY side of things, well...not a lot is happening for RWBY, since Volume 5 ended back in January, so we don't have much to look forward t-**

 **ArcSys: "Ahem."**

 **Oh, right.**

 **BLAZBLUE CROSS TAG BATTLE. I know that this is a website specifically for writing stories, but can I just talk about how much I'm hyped for that game? Like, almost as much as I was for _Dragon Ball FighterZ._ Considering my alias is _SSJacen35,_ that's a hard feat to accomplish, considering Dragon Ball is one of my favorites.**

 **So Season Three, a My Hero and partial RWBY game, an MHA Movie, a guaranteed Volume 6 this Fall...yeah, these two shows are looking up and up.**

 **And now's a good time to release the second chapter of this little thing I have going. Takes place during chapter one of RWBY.**

 **Enjoy~**

 **Edit: I come from the future. Season Three of My Hero has been amazing so far. The Movie (Two Heroes) is incredible, I got to watch it at Anime Expo. The game looks better than it has before, and BlazBlue Cross Tag is still pretty fun to play. So yeah.**

* * *

Chapter 2- Ruby and Izuku Rose

You know, being a man just barely about to go into retirement trying to keep a Dust shop open in the middle of downtown Patch isn't easy. For one, Dust is very plentiful in Remnant and the Four Kingdoms, so even an entire fire Dust Crystal the size of a history textbook is only about 5 lien. AKA, enough to trade for a bundle of socks. Not very cost-effective, huh? The only way to make any profit is to get them in bulk- too bad there's plenty of other stores in Patch that give the same Dust for much more affordable prices. This ordeal is probably the reason why he also has books to sell as well, and is literally open from "Dust" 'till Dawn. He's tired, we get it.

Too bad the last hour of his shift includes being robbed by a man in a fedora and cane with goons suffering from same-face syndrome. Being held at gunpoint while his Dust, and therefore hard earned lien, get sucked down the drain like water down a pipe. If only there was someone in that shop who can save him…

 _They see you as small and helpless...they see you as just a child…_

Oh wait. There is.

 _Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild…_

"Hey, you two!" One of the white-trenchcoat's cronies took notice of two figures at the back of the book section. One had messy green hair, and he was flipping through a comic book about a man with wild golden hair taking on an alien tyrant who looked like a giant white and purple tam-

And the other, a girl in a red and black costume that was straight out of a fairy tale, was reading about a boy who wanted to become the ninja president. She almost _believed_ he would, if it wasn't for the fact that the absurd amount of filler took away from the story.

"Hey, hands in the air!" The unknowing minion tapped her on the shoulder, and she finally took notice. Her hood came off, and the boy next to her turned as well. The goon gestured at his ears, telling them to take their headphones off.

"Yes?" The girl spoke in a clearly ignorant tone. Her headphones were on full blast, so she couldn't hear the robbery taking place literally right across the room.

"Is there something you want, sir?" The boy asked, showcasing the manga he had in his hands, "Did you want to see this? I know, Dragon Ball's WAY better than Naruto."

"Hey!" The girl argued back, "Dude, Naruto has a _way_ better plotline. What's yours about? Screaming and fighting for 10 episodes straight?"

"At least WE don't have 500 episodes-half of which are filler!"

"CUT IT OUT!" The man in the incriminating suit cut off any further argument. "I don't give a crap which one is better, because I'm robbing both of you!" He brought up his gun, but the both of them seemed unaffected by a gesture that would cause most to tremble for their life. Unfortunately for him, he was trying to mug the two best huntsman to be coming out of Signal Academy: Ruby Rose, and...

 _The time is upon you to show them what you can do…_

"Ohhh." The dark-haired girl smirked. "Izuku, now."

"Right." He took a deep breath in, activating the power that he had discovered just one year prior. His finger flared as his Semblance burned through his veins. Pain instantly grabbed ahold of his digit, but he grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the goon. The man took a step back in surprise. He suddenly felt as if the top-of-the-line Dust gun he was wielding had become obsolete as the boy brought up his index finger, preparing to...flick it?

"Smash!" His finger flicked forward, creating a current of wind hard enough to shatter glass. The man was blasted backwards, his face contorted from the gust of wind that had hit him like a freight train. The girl sprung into action, activating her Semblance as she leapt toward him. She used the man like a makeshift shield as they both crashed through the glass window. The goon was already knocked unconscious from the blow, and the girl stood up, activating her beloved scythe- Crescent Rose.

"Okay then…" The man, Roman Torchwick, glared at the adolescent that had ruined his night of burglary. He gestured at his goons, and they, stupidly, obeyed his orders, charging forward with their swords and guns at the ready.

Unfortunately, guns and swords were no match for a girl with a badass scythe that was _also_ a gun.

The green haired sibling jumped through the shattered pain, gripping his finger. "Ow..."

"Your finger okay?" Ruby murmured to him as the men charged her. Her brother took shelter behind her as she crossed her scythe behind her back.

Her normally wide eyes sharpened to a point at the men, as if to she was saying _touch him and I'll kill you._ The goons gulped and hesitated. That big-sister stare and that scythe that was probably almost as heavy as she was were more than enough evidence that if they were to get in a fight with her, they wouldn't last long.

"Y-Yeah..." He lied. That blast he made was as much as Izuku could have controlled. Before, he had blasted whole forests down into a clearing with a punch, sacrificing his arm in the process, but now, with the help of Taiyang, he had controlled his Semblance to the point where finger-flicks with his Semblance would only cause sharp pain and throbbing rather than shattering them. "I can't use my Semblance effectively against them. Can you take 'em?"

Ruby smirked. "I got this. You just hold tight."

 _And soon they will know that-_

 _This will be THE DAY we've waited for!_

Izuku backed up as the crimsonette charged the men. He almost couldn't see what was happening; Ruby was moving too dang fast for him _too_ see! _Man, Ruby's wayyy ahead of me in terms of combat technique...she's, actually amazing! Crescent Rose_ , his sister's weapon, was a weapon so comically large that it was incredibly hard to miss, but here it was nothing more than a red blur as Ruby pounded the men into the ground with the non-sharp end.

Within seconds, the men were down. Roman grumbled to himself. Why didn't his plans just go the way he wanted it to go? No kids with crazy flicking powers, or a girl with an obsession with the color red… "Well, Red, I think we can both agree we've made it a very eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around…" He aimed his cane up, and a sight flicked up. Yes, it was also a gun. "This is where we part ways." The Dust bullet fired, shooting out of the cane with a red cone-shaped dust trail behind it. Ruby brought up her Crescent Rose in front of her body to block the blast. The bullet collided with Crescent Rose, kicking up a dust cloud that obscured her vision.

As soon as he fired the bullet, Roman booked it to the ladder. His Dust-stealing had failed here, and he wasn't planning on staying around and getting arrested like his knocked-out-cold underlings. _Gotta tell her that I need a ride..._ He climbed about halfway up the ladder when out of the corner of his eye he saw a _green_ blur.

"Hey! Get back here!" Izuku yelled. "You're gonna have to answer to the police!"

 _Crap. It's the other kid._ "The only person I answer to around here is _me, Green._ " He aimed his cane-gun at Izuku. _I have only two more shots in this baby...let's not waste it!_ He fired, but unfortunately the bullet was deflected by- "Dammit Red!" He broke his cigar between his teeth in anger. _Nothing_ was going his way tonight.

"You alright?" Ruby asked as she inspected the small scratch on her scythe that the bullet made. _I'll have to buffer that out later..._ "He almost got you there..."

"Mhm, I'm fine." He started sprinting as Roman was now almost up the ladder. _If I don't hurry, he might get away!_

Behind him, he heard painful groans. The goons that Ruby had just curbstomped into the pavement were beginning to come to again. "Izuku, get their leader! I'll handle these guys again!"

"Okay!" He was already planning on that, but he took a sigh of relief that he and his sister were on the same page. _To be fair, we pretty much always are..._ He thought as he stepped on the first rung. _Ah, no more reminiscing! I have a villain to catch!_

Roman got to the roof of the building. He sighed, looking around. There was no Bullhead in sight, meaning that his associate was probably a little late in their pickup. _She should be here any minute now..._ The sound of gunshots and metal clanging meant his goons were probably up again and not _complete_ idiots. But he knew that those kids would probably pick them apart again... _Why did she have to assign me such worthless men?_ He got to the edge of the rooftop and stopped. He felt the kid had caught up to him.

"Hey!" Izuku yelled, his fists clenched. Robbing a bank and endangering lives? Yeah, he was definitely going to be going to prison if him and Ruby could pin him down. The crucial word was _if_ , however.

"You and your girlfriend are really persistent, you know that?" His voice darkened at his final words. Unfortunately, Izuku didn't notice as he was too pent up about that last part...

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" He stammered, "Just because we look nothing alike, we hang out a lot and we're the opposite gender does _not_ mean-"

"Thanks for stalling, Green."

"Wha-Oh..." It suddenly get windy upon the rooftop, and the criminal's white trenchcoat fluttered in the hard breeze. He held his hat down as he stepped to the edge.

A Bullhead ascended its way into view. The bright lights activated and zeroed in on Deku, who was forced to avert his eyes from the illumination. Roman calmly climbed into the open hatch and smirked cockily at the boy below him. "End of the line!" He held up a crystalline Fire Dust. Izuku knew what that meant instantly. Throwing the Dust at Deku's feet, he aimed his final bullet at it, hoping to scorch that poor kid like burnt popcorn.

He pulled the trigger.

"I'm NOT done yet! SMASH!"

The torrents of air shot towards the Bullhead, shifting it sideways at a sharp degree. Roman's bullet went wild; firing into the air as his trajectory was all messed up from the shot. "Damn you!" He cursed. _Okay, so that kid can not only break windows by flicking, but he can also imbalance whole vehicles?! I hate to admit it, but I need help..._ He staggered to the Bullhead's cockpit. "We got a tough one, over here!" The pilot obliged and switched with Roman, who in turn manned the controls. _Okay, NOW that brat's done for..._

Izuku growled under his breath. _I have eight more chances to bring that thing down!_ He flicked another finger. The pain skyrocketed through his bones, but they managed to stay intact. The Bullhead shook again, but stabilized as Deku spotted a new figure in the hatch.

It was the silhouette of a woman: Slender legs, heels, and a short red sleeved dress. The embroideries on the dress lit up like her eyes and hands with an eerie orange glow. _Crapbaskets..._

The woman narrowed her eyes as she sized up the kid. _Hm...Doesn't look too tough._ She fired a warning shot. The fireball was weaker than what she normally output, but if it connected it definitely would shake him up and maybe catch him in flames. She heard the green-clad child _scream_ as another wave of air blasted through her fireball, instantaneously dissipating it and sending tremors through the Bullhead. She'd have to finish this a lot faster if they wanted to get away.

After the winds stopped, she fired yet another plume of flames, this one being many times larger than the last. _There's no way he can break through that, right?_

"SMASH!" Another finger flick and wind currents rang out, forming a makeshift air shield around Deku as the flames coiled around him. "Five...more chances...!"

Below, Ruby had just re-knocked out the last of Roman's cronies. They had two large bumps on their heads each, and Ruby guessed that they wouldn't come-to until the next morning. She sighed. _It was almost too easy..._

A cry of pain echoed through the otherwise quiet town. It was Izuku's! _Crap, I have to get to him!_ She ran up to the wall of the building that her brother and that orange-haired guy had gone up. Knowing the ladder would be too long and precarious, she inverted Crescent Rose and shot below her, giving her a boost that propelled her to the top.

"SM...ASH!" Deku had unleashed another blast. He managed to evade another fire blast by finger-flicking a shield around him, but he knew that he was running out of turns. He prepared another flick as he saw the woman charge another fire blast. _Reusing a finger will break them, and after this I only have three more...this isn't good!_

"Izuku!" _Thank God!_ Her sister's voice was like a guardian angel's to him. "Stop wasting your fingers like that! Let me _throw_ you!" He turned in slight confusion, but the gesture that Ruby made made the plan obvious. He nodded.

"Okay..." He jumped out of the way of an incoming blast and ran up to the crimsonette. Grabbing her hand, he braced as her _Speed_ Semblance kicked in. Now at blurring speeds and forming two parallel red and green cones, the duo evaded yet another shot from the woman and kicked off the edge of the building. Ruby shot Crescent Rose, spinning them around and quite literally pitching her brother like a fastball towards the Bullhead.

The woman's eyes widened as Green got closer to her. She had _not_ expected them to get this close to her! Now using both hands, she put all of her power into this one attack.

The attack she fired wasn't a simple fireball; it was a stream of constant, burning flames. The air lit up and the city blocks around the fight was illuminated in that ominous orange glow. Izuku was caught in the forefront of the attack, one could say he has been hit point-blank.

"IZUKU!" Ruby screamed as he saw her brother be overwhelmed in the inferno. _No, don't you DARE get hurt!_ She wanted to help, but getting into that scorching heat would only serve to hurt her as well. She'd just have to wait...

The girl in the Bullhead smiled evilly. _That persistent brat is finally done fo-WHAT?!_

Through the flames emerged, at first, green hair. Then, white-hot eyes that were filled with ravenous anger. Then, clenched teeth and a pulled-back fist. Then a whole body. _He...he survived that?!_

Viridescent lightning coiled around his body, which looked as if it was blocking the fire from burning him horribly. Izuku himself only looked mildly sunburnt, meaning he had probably activated... _whatever_ that was, last minute. "N-No..." The woman whispered. It was the first time...in her life...

That an opponent had made her feel fear.

"Five Percent...SMASHHHHH!" Izuku _crashed_ his fist into the woman's stomach. He only aimed to incapacitate her, but the force behind his blow plus the shots he fired before un-stabilized the Bullhead beyond recovery. It swirled in the air, losing altitude and breaking down at an electric level. The force of the blast had knocked the electronics loose.

It spun out of control and fell. With three people ready to be swallowed in the oncoming explosion.

Make that two, actually. "IZUKU!" Ruby pushed her Semblance to the limit, kicking off the building and zipping towards the falling Bullhead. To everyone else it was as if she was a blur, but to her she saw everything in slow motion. Deku, who looked unconscious, was falling limply above the woman, who was coughing up blood with a pained and terrified look on her face.

Her Semblance gave her limited flight, so barely, _just barely_ , she managed to catch her brother mid-air and get out of the way before-

 _BOOM!_

The explosion rocked the street that the Bullhead crashed upon. Luckily, it was an intersection devoid of trees, so major fires were unlikely, but it was sure to have woken up maybe, I don't know, the _entire town._

Ruby had stopped a block down from the crashed Bullhead. Izuku was in her arms, just beginning to come to. "I...ugh...Ruby?..."

"Deku?..." She muttered as her brother gestured for him to get up by himself. She obliged, but not without holding him up first. He almost tripped on his own foot. "Hey, hey, don't push yourself...you almost killed yourself fighting her..."

"Heh..." His fingers were in a constant state of pain, and his right arm was strained from the punch he had landed. Still, though...he found a way to smile after all that...and he had no idea why. "Well, at least we're even now..."

"Okay, how in the heck does this make us even?" Ruby inquired.

"Well...you saved me from almost _exploding_ , and I saved you from a Grimm."

"I think an explosion's a lot more dangerous than Grimm," The huntress replied, "I think you owe me one." She stuck her tongue out playfully, despite a burning Bullhead in the background.

 _How mature of her..._ Izuku inwardly thought, _then again, she's always like this. I'm starting to like it..._ "Owe ya what? A jar of cookies?"

"*gasp* I'd love that."

"Fine, fine..." Izuku gave a heartwarming smile, and Ruby shot one back.

* * *

It was only minutes after one of the most intense encounters with evil, and yet...the two were laughing and smiling like it had never happened. Ozpin sipped from his mug as he observed this through the security cameras. _How...fascinating. I look forward to meeting the two of them..._ He pressed the intercom, "Glynda, are you there yet?" The silver-haired man asked, "I would like to speak with them as soon as possible. And besides, I believe the cookies are ready."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm almost there...Just got to fix the shop and I'll be over there," A feminine voice replied tiredly. She seemed...annoyed? Ozpin inwardly shook his head. She was always like this, especially working at a campus where the students tend to destroy the property through their fights. Thankfully, she was paid quite more than the rest of the staff for her troubles.

"It's actually quite shocking that two kids were able to do this much..." Glynda continued, "Aren't they both students at Signal Academy? That would probably explain their prowess on the battlefield, but the boy is especially surprising..."

"Indeed," Ozpin looked over and over at the scuffle that that woman and Izuku had on the rooftops. Alarmingly, the woman was shooting fire, which caused the Headmaster of Beacon to start thinking of information he hadn't thought of in years...but he shook his head. _We could just chalk it up to her Semblance. Besides, I doubt that a being like that would be working with thugs like that..._ But the boy was something that was a puzzle to him. _Finger flicking? Really? And how did he deflect those flames like that?_ "I haven't heard anything about the boy. I assume he's her brother, just by going by how they interact with one another."

"Well, whatever the case is, we'll find out now." Glynda muttered, as if she was purposefully trying to quiet down as to not draw attention to herself. "I'm about to get them." The line cut off. Ozpin sat back in his chair as he imagined how his right-hand teacher would try and...appropriate them. She was all about order, after all, and _those two seem to have displayed the opposite of that._ He picked up his coffee and headed towards the door. _It's time to meet them._

* * *

"Why are we sitting in chairs right now?"

"Why is there a bright light above usss?!"

"Why are you giving us that look?! We did nothing wrong!"

"Oh, I can think of plenty of things you two have done wrong." Glynda retorted, fixing her glasses as she paced back and forth in the dark room with only one bright light that illuminated the very center. The Huntress glared at Izuku the most, as he was the one that caused the most financial damage. "I hope you know that the actions you two have taken tonight will not be tolerated. You put yourselves, and others, in grave danger. Why would you even engage yourselves in thugs like those?"

"They started it!" Izuku argued back. "Isn't it a Huntsman's job to meddle in places where they don't belong?"

"Yes, but kids like you are a different matter." Glynda said quite matter-of-factly. "Adults should be the ones handling issues like those, not fourteen-year-olds with fancy scythes."

"I'm fifteen, and its name is Crescent Rose!" Ruby shot off her seat in defiance, but her brother managed to calm her back down. The girl went into a somewhat pouty state, her arms crossed over her chest. "Stupid youth…"

The blonde huntress sighed. She witnessed the battle from her scroll from security monitors, and from what she could tell both the girl and the boy had some rather interesting Semblances and skills. There was literally no way that that man in the fedora or his goons could lay a scratch on them. Unfortunately, just as she arrived on the scene it seemed that man and his accomplice were gone, leaving just those two remaining and _her_ to clean up the mess those kids made. _They have potential...but still, why did Ozpin want to meet these two of all people?_ "If it were up to me, I'd send you both home with a pat on the back…"

Their faces lit up. Then they yelped as Glynda smacked her wand on the table. "...and a slap on the wrist. Fortunately for you two…" She stepped to the side, revealing the open hallway that was behind her, and a silver-haired man with a tray of cookies and a mug of presumably coffee coming through the doorway. "There's someone who would like to meet you."

The man stopped in front of the table and placed the tray on the mahogany wood. His thin brown eyes blinked between both Ruby and Izuku, as if he was studying them and making mental notes of the pair at a hundred calculations per second. The color of his hair his hair reflected age, but his glasses hinted at a wise and long upbringing. To summarize, the man was a puzzle to the green and red duo as soon as he stepped through the doorway. And his gesture towards Ruby in particular puzzled them further.

"Ruby Rose." He leaned in closer to get a better look of her. "You...have silver eyes."

"Um...o...kay?..." The red huntress-to-be raised an eyebrow. "Why is that import-"

"So," He kept going like he never heard her in the first place. Glynda put up her scroll, showing the red huntress taking down Torchwick's cronies faster than the quickest airship in Atlas. "Where did you learn techniques such as those?"

"Uh...Signal Academy."

"You're telling me they taught you to use the most dangerous anti-Grimm weapon ever designed?"

"Well just one teacher in particular!" Ruby stated. "My uncle Qrow...he pretty much taught me everything I know." Izuku nodded in agreement, but also noticed all of the cookies were gone. And Ruby's face was stuffed.

 _I didn't even have one..._

"I see." Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "And you…"

"Huh?!" Izuku's sweat drops grew from a few on his brow to dozens coming off his cheeks. Like Ruby, he knew who the man in front of them was: Professor Ozpin, head of Beacon Academy. But unlike his sister, he didn't really do very well in front of authoritarian figures. "Me?"

"Yes, you, Izuku Rose." Ozpin pulled up a chair, putting one leg up and essentially getting comfortable. He had a hunch that the story of this boy in particular would be a long and peculiar one. "At least, I assume that's your last name. You two are siblings, correct?"

"Yes we are!" Ruby put her elbow on Izuku's shoulder rather smoothly. "I'm the older one!"

"By like, ten months!" the younger sibling exclaimed, but immediately calmed down after he saw that Ozpin's eyes had not changed expression. "I'm...adopted." Izuku's voice shifted down to a melancholy tone. "Ruby's uncle found me abandoned, so he brought me to Ruby's dad and I found myself in a new home…"

"Hmm…" Ozpin narrowed his eyes. He knew that Izuku was telling all that he knew, but when he shifted over to Ruby, her silver eyes were looking away for some odd reason. She knew something that he didn't. "Well, how did you learn to do this?" He turned to his assistant Glynda, who showed another scene of Izuku summoning huge torrents of wind with just the flick of his finger, which were not only enough to crash a Bullhead but also powerful enough to divert flames. "This Semblance is...something else." Ozpin said, "One could even say it is _otherworldly._ What is it? Have you even given it a proper name? I do know that your sister's Semblance is speed, and…" He gestured to the empty tray, "...most likely high metabolism, but you seem to have a Semblance that is incomparable to any other. What's your secret?"

"Um…" Izuku didn't know what to say. Fortunately for him, Ruby did.

"Well, he unlocked his Semblance when he was fourteen, so only a year ago." She explained. "And the power he had was strong enough to destroy a whole Ursa Major- AND an entire patch of forest!"

"Really now?" Ozpin sipped from his mug again. Despite his calm demeanor on the outside, inside his mind was racing. If what Ms. Rose was saying was true, Izuku's Semblance would be one of the most powerful ever to exist-probably even matching the Maidens in strength! He inwardly sighed. He knew that he could not tell them of the Maidens, for now, at least. "That's quite a big feat. So why, may I ask, has the entire city block not been reduced to rubble when you launched that man through the Dust shop?"

"I learned to control it better," Izuku answered rather quickly. He clenched his fist, and suddenly the signatures green electricity sparked around him again. "Thanks to training with my other sister, Yang, and my Dad, I've managed to control it by not only strengthening my body but trying my hardest to keep the power in my veins for only brief seconds at a time, rather than just letting it explode outwards like I did the first time. It does reduce the potency, but it also prevents my limbs from breaking when I only use it once."

"Yup." Ruby said in agreement, "First time Deku used his Semblance he shattered his legs. It was only after he started using his new technique that he was able to fight with it long-term at all!"

"Yeah…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't really have a definitive name for my Semblance specifically, but-"

"- _But_ whenever he does use his Semblance he always has this weird and sort of awkward habit of saying 'Smash'. I dunno why you do it, by the way. No like seriously, _why_ do you do that?"

"I have...no idea..." Izuku murmured, speaking to his sister while also speaking to the adults in the room, "It just...happens instinctively whenever I activate it. Like an urge to always say it, it's...weird." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I know, it's kind of a stupid explanation..."

Ruby nudged him, "You're stupid."

" _You're_ stupid!" Deku shot back playfully.

"Muttering baka."

"Weapon-loving dork." Ruby stuck out her tongue at his last comeback.

"Alright, you two, I think I've heard as much as I needed to hear." Ozpin sat up from his chair and Glynda gave a quizzical look.

"You don't mean you're-" The blonde huntress was cut off when Ozpin brought his finger up to shush her.

"Ruby and Izuku Rose, I think you both have shown tremendous physical prowess on the battlefield. Your skills outshine that of some of our fourth-years at Beacon Academy." He picked up the empty tray and coffee mug, "I presume that you both are having an education at Signal Academy, correct?" Both Izuku and Ruby nodded their heads and leaned forward in anticipation. "All right, well...if I can pull the right strings…"

"Would you like to join early?"

* * *

Location: ?

A warehouse miles away, battered lightly by the rainfall. Gray, ominous clouds blanketed the sky for miles around. It was silent, as most of the... _workers_ had gone home.

But there were a few still awake, and for good reason, too. An inky black mist appeared in the center of the rusted warehouse. Lightning struck, lighting up the room revealing shadows of a massive, muscular and humanoid behemoth in the background. It's eerily spherical eyes were rolled in the back of its head, as if it was in stasis, waiting for a command. For now, it was dormant.

The black, slightly violet mist widened, now to a width wide enough to hold two humans in. And, luckily, two humans came out.

One of them was a man in a trenchcoat, or at least what was left of the white fabric. His fedora was long gone, and the rest of his previously dashing costume had been scorched. Roman Torchwick cursed to himself, muttering something about, "I'll have to buy a new one, stupid Red..."

The other was a woman, who was unconscious until her back smacked into the damp concrete floor. It shocked her awake, her golden eyes showing signs of pain. "That brat..." She coughed into her hand. There was blood.

"Are you alright, Milady?" A dark, masculine voice said in the shadows. It was a deep voice, rather intimidating. But not to Cinder Fall, not even close. He was her underling, after all, assigned by _her_ Superior due to his rather...useful Semblance. "Those injuries look rather serious."

"I'm fine," She spat, literally and figuratively. "That kid just got a lucky shot...I won't let it happen again." Cinder clutched her slim stomach as she stood up, and realized that the area around her midriff was exposed. _That kid's punch dissipated my dress...how?!_ She had no idea _how_ that kid was so powerful.

"I think it was anything BUT a lucky shot." Roman grumbled, "I overheard him saying _five_ _percent_ before he punched the Bullhead out of the air." Cinder cringed at the _five_ _percent_ part. What if he had hit her with a hundred percent, or even 10 percent?...

 _If five percent was enough to break my aura, then 100%..._ She shook her head, not wanting to think about what could have happened. "I didn't sign up for this, you know. You assigned me and my men to collect Dust, _not_ to fight children who have giant scythes and Semblances that can destroy buildings!"

" _Silence_." Cinder hissed. "We just made a miscalculation. Clearly we'll have to plan our... _thefts_ more carefully."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" A new voice echoed through the room. It was a man's voice, but...it's tone sent a shiver down Cinder's back whenever she heard it. It was, for the lack of a better word, creepy. "Your little...excursion caused quite a scene. You're being too reckless, _Cinder Fall._ "

Cinder had had enough. It was one thing that she was bested by a child, but now her own colleagues were patronizing her. Raising her hand towards the man she mustered the remaining strength she had and summoned a crimson bow and arrow, aimed right between the fingers of the horrifyingly realistic hand that he had attached to his face. She let go of the arrow, and it shot towards him at breakneck speeds.

 _Catch_. He held the arrow between his thumb and two fingers. "I suggest you don't go around attacking your allies, either." He put down his ring finger on the arrow's shaft, "We're after the same goal, Cinder." He planted his pinky on the arrow.

Cinder's eyes widened as her attack decayed and literally turned to ashes in the breeze. _So that's his Semblance, huh?_ "And what would that be, _Tomura Shigaraki?_ "

Shigaraki stepped into the light, and to his right stood a well-dressed man with that signature black mist and eery yellow eyes that were in a constant narrowed state. Tomura smiled widely under the hand, almost laughing, cackling as thunder boomed through the night sky.

"We _both_ want to see this world burn."

* * *

 **I can already see the first thing you guys will be reviewing: "Okay, so how the heck does Deku NOT break his fingers?!"**

 **Remember how long Deku has had this power. More than a year at this point, which is already longer than his Season One and Two counterparts. Added onto the fact that he's physically as fit as his Anime self due to him being trained by Taiyang, Ruby and Yang, as well as having more time to control his power, I think that the fact that he doesn't break his finger but rather has it sting for a while is a fair bargain. Plus, I don't want Izuku to have broken fingers as he goes into Beacon Academy.**

 **Also he has Full Cowl. That will be explained later in the story, don't worry. There's a lot more stuff I need to go over before I get into that power-up.**

 **As for the Villain part at the very end...I think I needed to introduce them now. I mean, considering Todoroki and Deku both showed up in this world without any explanation (as of right now and of what I've shown up to this point), I think that the My Hero Villains making their debut was a given. It's not a surprise that they're there, but rather _how_ they got there is the mystery I won't say.**

 **How I described this story to one of my friends is like a pizza. The basic elements, the cheese, the dough, the tomato sauce, it's all RWBY. The toppings and the stuff that gives it uniqueness is My Hero Academia. It's not quite a "character in another world" story, nor is it a "fused-worlds" story.**

 **And since this is the part in the story where it really gets going...don't worry, it won't follow RWBY's events exactly. There will be times where I use those elements, but I plan to make a mostly unique story from Volume 3 onwards.**

 **Which means Volumes 1 and 2 will mostly be RWBY with MHA parts splashed in there to mix things up a little for effect. If you think that sounds boring, then don't worry about that either. I'm planning on going through those rather fast, and skipping parts that aren't needed.** **Like Volumes One and Two of RWBY, the first dozen or so chapters will all be set-up, for the Villains, for measure each character's power and how they stack up against each other, the, well, _plot_ , and the characters getting settled in Beacon.**

 **Volume Three and beyond is where the real meat of RWBY is, which is why I'm going to try and get there as fast as I can. So, like I said in the beginning, sit back, it's going to be a wild and long ride.**

 **P.S. I'm hoping for weekly updates, which is why I'm trying to stay ahead by at least 30k words (I'm at chapter 7 right now), but if there's a delay at any point just chalk that up to my laziness. Okay? Okay. Cool.**

 **See you next week!**


	5. A Warm Welcome: To Beacon

**A/N: I'm sorry this one's a little short.**

 **In actuality, this one was going to be over 10k words in length, as Chapters 2 and 3 were going to just be, well, Chapter 2.**

 **Originally it was shorter, but I realized that I kind of glossed over the fight that Ruby had with Torchwick's goons, so I added a whole original fight scene with Deku showing off One For All.**

 **Speaking of One For All, let me tell you about it's properties when dealing with fire: It can take it. Rather well, in fact.**

 **I had a reviewer tell me that lightning can't protect Izuku against fire, and yep, that's 100% true. However, it's not really lightning despite me describing at as so; it's an overflow of power, One For All pouring out of the muscles of Deku and coming out as lightning, kind of like the aura that characters have in Dragon Ball Z.**

 **So if Deku's body is flowing with One For All, and OFA is all about increased power, speed and durability, shouldn't that mean he'll be okay against flames for at least a short amount of time? Well, if he can be only knocked unconscious from a fire blast from Shoto that shattered concrete and melted ice hundreds of feet tall-then yes, he can. At least, that's my interpretation.**

 **So if you thought that that scene was BS, then it's okay. I have _some_ semblance of logic.**

 **By the way, thanks for all the positive and critical reviews! It helps a lot :)**

 **Anyways, enough of my rambling, onto the story. It's only about 4K words long, so to make up for it the next three are over 5k!**

* * *

Chapter 3- A Warm Welcome...To Beacon

"OH MY GOSH!" All Ruby saw was golden locks embrace her as her sister literally bear hugged her from excitement. If Yang applied any more pressure, she was certain her ribs might crack. Izuku was holding up a little better, but still had the wind knocked out of him from their elder sister's super hug. "I can't believe that BOTH of you are coming to Beacon with me! This is like, the BEST day ever!"

"Pleze staaph…" Ruby couldn't find the proper words to escape her mouth, while Deku just awkwardly laughed. Yes, they had both successfully gotten to Beacon under Ozpin's word, and now, they were literally the youngest kids in a school full of warriors training to kill monsters of darkness. It was both exciting, and terrifying as all hell.

"I'm just so proud of you two!" The busty blonde said as she let go of her siblings, "I mean, everyone at Beacon will think you're the bee's knees!"

"Question," Izuku interrupted, "What's so special about bee's knees, again?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Ruby agreed, "We aren't _that_ special...just because we skipped two years doesn't mean we're special, or anything."

"Wellll…" Yang wrapped both arms around her little sister and brother, "As far as I'm concerned, _both_ of ya are special. I mean, you have a scythe that can slice a tree in two and _you_ have a Semblance that even I can't keep up with sometimes! You'll both do fine, trust me. Beacon isn't so hard."

Deku blushed, "If you say so, Sis…"

The news that was going on in the background faded, like anyone was really paying attention to it anyways. The view of Vale from below kind of made the holographic projection of Channel V (V for Vale) kind of obsolete. Instead appeared a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch, and since she is the Headmaster's assistant, everyone on board now brought their attention to the huntress, including Ruby, Izuku and Yang.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon," Glynda said rather un-enthusiastically, as if she had done this multiple times already.

"Who's that?" Yang muttered to Ruby.

"-My name is Glynda Goodwitch (Yang: Oh). You are among the privileged few who have been endowed with the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious Academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it will be your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage for such a task, and now it has become our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect the Four Kingdoms."

"Well that was quite the exposition dump," Yang deadpanned.

"Yeah…" Izuku stared down at his gloved hands. _The youngest student in Beacon,_ he thought, _I have a feeling that age doesn't matter here. I'm most likely going to be treated like everyone else._

 _And rightfully so._ His fists clenched. _I will show them what I can do!_

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

 _Oh boy..._ Izuku internally groaned.

Here they were. Atop the cliff of Beacon Academy, arguably the most distinguished and grandiose Grimm-hunting Academies in all of Remnant. It's shining _Beacon_ tower stood at the center of the silver-colored Academy, overlooking both the school and the cliffside where it resides. Down the main avenue, students were making their way to the amphitheatre to be welcomed by the headmaster, Ozpin. However, some have hit...roadblocks.

Izuku and Ruby Rose, for example. In the space of probably a minute after getting off the airship, his sister Yang abandoned him and Ruby to hang out with her friends, Ruby got confused, fell over, and hit a baggage cart which a bunch of Dust capsules in them, then a girl in heels (He wasn't certain how she managed to walk in them all day) and a white-based clothing style chewed Ruby out just in time for the 15-year-old to sneeze, causing the Dust to literally combust, bringing shards of ice, sparks of electricity and fire to burst out, covering the girls in a layer of soot that for some reason blew away like it was all a comedy act.

That was in the space of a minute. _Good thing I decided to back up..._ Deku thought.

"This is exactly the thing that I was talking about!" The girl with the long white hair exclaimed. "You could have gotten us a lot more than just dusty!"

"I'm really, reallyyy sorry!" Ruby apologized timidly. She was not making a good first impression of herself. She wasn't at Beacon for a day and she already managed to make an enemy.

"Ugh!" To be frank, she was having _none_ of it. "You idiot! What're you even doing here? You look a little young to be attending Beacon, you know."

 _Well, looks like Ruby's having a rough first day..._ Izuku chuckled to himself as he slowly began to back away. Then he stepped on a twig. _Crap._

"Hey, you!" The white-haired brat's eyes turned from Ruby to Deku. "You better keep your friend in check, or you _will_ regret it!"

"...O-Okay…" Izuku didn't know what to say. It was as if this girl, despite being shorter than him, had grown ten times in size _and_ intimidation. Fear is all that came over his mind.

"Hey, Weiss." Suddenly a new person walked into Izuku's view. He was wearing the same color palette as Weiss was; a white dress shirt, pants, and boots. Half of his hair was white, but the other half…

" _I'm going to come and find you...Just watch me."_

 _No…It can't be...it's that guy from the dream I had!_ Everything matched; hair color, the heterochromia, the choice of clothing. Before Izuku thought it was just a weird dream, but now he knew better. The person who had forewarned him of his arrival was standing right in front of him! And was dragging Weiss away.

"C'mon, we're going to be late for the ceremony." He grabbed the girl by the collar of her bolero, to which she didn't reply with gratitude.

"Hey!" Weiss yelled, "Shoto Todoroki Schnee, let go of me this instant! I'm the elder sister, so you do what _I_ ask!"

"I'd rather not," The white-redhead replied calmly, "Getting into petty fights this early into the school year is not worth it. Just let her be."

"..." Weiss crossed her arms as she's dragged further into Beacon by the heels of her shoes. "Fine…"

 _No, I can't let him get away!_ Izuku took a step forward as he raised his arm, as if reaching out to him. "H-Hey!" Todoroki stopped as Deku called to him. _I need to know who he is!_ "Have I seen you before?"

Todoroki silently turned his head to get a better look of Izuku. His choice of clothing was a dark green unitard with black elbow and kneepads, white gloves, and a red belt with two small containers of the same color on either side, presumably for Dust storage. His red boots were lined with iron soles.

For a few seconds Todoroki stared at him, but to Izuku it felt like hours of daggers being glared into his soul. Finally, he spoke. "Sorry," _What?..._ "I haven't seen you before in my life. You must be thinking of someone else." And just like that, he turned back and walked away.

Izuku was stunned. _B-But...I saw him! I know I did!_

"Yeah, that happens to me sometimes, too." Ruby, now recovered from her all-but-dignifying entrance, put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "Sometimes you think you know a guy and said guy thinks you're chopped liver. I've been there before. We all have, really." Her anecdote caused Deku to chuckle lightly, and the stressed look on his face was lifted off of him. "Well, we should probably head inside now. We might miss the ceremony."

Izuku turned and smiled, "Sure! Let's go."

"Okay, I think we're far enough. Can you let me go now?" Todoroki sighed, and let go of Weiss's collar, letting her independently get on her own to feet and dust herself off. "Thank you." They were almost inside the amphitheatre, was was already filling up with potential huntsman and huntresses to be.

"Jeez, you have a strong grip…" She felt the area that her brother had grabbed her bolero, and oddly enough it was cold rather than warm from human contact.

"Sorry, I may have activated my Semblance…" The boy opened the large wooden door for the "Ice Princess" (He had heard that red-haired girl call Weiss that).

Once inside, they were engulfed in the crowd. At least a hundred or more kids were meandering about the large room, some clustered together, some going around and showing off their weapons to their peers. The two Schnees found a small gap in the center, and made their way to the middle of the room. "So…" Todoroki started, "How's your first day been so far?"

"I _exploded._ What do you think?" Weiss pulled out a file and began checking her nails.

"Not good?"

"No duh, genius."

Then Weiss saw her. _That redheaded brat!_ Like a Tyrannosaurus that had just discovered its next meal, Weiss growled as she stormed across the room towards Ruby, who was literally having a mental breakdown over the events that had transpired moments ago. Todoroki watched as his sister unleashed an icy hell over the unsuspecting 15-year-old. It was both amusing...and a little concerning.

"HAI!" The high-pitched voice of a girl behind him caught Todoroki off guard, and his eyes widened in surprise. His heart stopped for a second as the girl sped around in a half circle to meet Todoroki face-to-face. Orange hair, turquoise eyes, and a pink-based outfit, plus an overly big smile that both amused and unnerved the white-redhead. Yep, Todoroki was sure he had met someone...a little off the walls. "Nora Valkyrie, nice to meet ya!" She brought her arm up for a handshake, to which Todoroki was almost too dumbfounded to shake. Heck, he could barely process what had just happened; the girl was _that_ upbeat. He had never experienced so much...enthusiasm before! "You looked a little lonely, so I decided to come over and keep ya company, not that I like you or anything...wait, not to say that you're _not_ handsome, I mean you are, look at that hair! I was...ahem...just wanted to say hi!"

"Hi."

"Great!" Nora jumped in the air so high that any higher would have run the risk of an upskirt. "Woohoo! New friend! Wanna be on a team once Initiation is sorted out?"

Todoroki blinked. _There's going to be an initiation? Interesting…_ "If it works out, I don't see the harm."

The speakers screeched as the headmaster took to the front. Ozpin adjusted his microphone, giving everyone a moment to stop what they were doing and bring their attention to the elevated stage. "I'll...keep this brief…"

"You all have traveled here in search of knowledge...to hone your craft, and to acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate yourself to the protection of the masses. But I look amongst you all and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction."

"Man, Ozpin's a savage!" Yang quietly exclaimed to Ruby.

"You think that knowledge alone is enough to take you to where you need to go, when in fact knowledge can only carry you so far."

"It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin stepped away from the microphone, and Glynda took his place as she address the students.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, Initiation begins, so you all better be prepared."

"Oh, I'm already ready!" Yang banged her fists together. "I wish we could just start!"

"Jeez…" Izuku muttered. _Wasted potential, huh?_ He looked at his glove once again, and for some reason a green bolt sparked from his fingertip, even though he hadn't even activated his Semblance in the first place. _I guess the whole point of initiation is to prove him wrong._

 _So let's take that first step._

* * *

A new day means a new beginning, as they say. And for the first years of Beacon, Initiation literally means the start of their journey to become a huntsman or a huntress. Most of the locker room was empty, as the majority of the first years were still trying to process where everything was in the huge campus and where to get ready. A few of the rookie huntsman in training have finally managed to claw themselves out of their rather comfortable sleeping bags and get suited up for initiation. Namely, Todoroki Schnee and-

"Waaaake UP LAZYBUM!" It was the first thing the son of the Schnee Dust Company heard when his brain decided to turn off sleep mode. Considering there was a orange-haired girl with enough enthusiasm to be mistaken for a sugar-filled child trying to get him out of bed, he probably should have stayed in the covers. But for some reason, he found himself brushing his teeth, tying up his bed, eating breakfast (he did at least admit that the pancakes were quite scrumptious), and finally in the locker room where he geared up, all while Nora Valkyrie was still talking. A part of himself wanted her to stop, but for some reason he found himself tolerating it. He did have an annoying brother and a quite...vocal sister back home, so he was used to all the chit-chat.

"I know!" Nora was currently talking about her _genius_ plan. It was to "ensure that we ended up on the same team together". Todoroki was only paying half attention, but the gist of it was either 1.) Bribe Ozpin, 2.) Bribe the whole Kingdom of Vale, or 3.) a distress signal. Every single one sounded ridiculous. "We should have some sort of secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a turtle? Turtles are cute, they'd be perfect for you since you're cuu...I mean you're more handso…"

"Nora," Todoroki flatly stated, "I'm pretty sure turtles are mostly silent animals."

"...That's why it's PERFECT! No one will know that we're working together!"

 _*sigh*...why did I have to make friends with a girl like this?_ Todoroki threw his morning clothes in his locker and headed out, with the...interesting, girl right at his heels. Nearby, Deku noticed the pair walking (or in terms of Nora, pretty much skipping) their way out to the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. For some reason, tying his boots seemed unimportant as he saw Todoroki open the door for the girl, and for a split second he was sure the white-redhead had made eye contact with him. He left before Izuku could wave, however. _I wonder what made those two so worked up…_

"...Meanwhile Silence McGrumperson hasn't said a word to us other than 'Good Morning'." Suddenly Yang and Ruby's conversation became Izuku's point of interest as the Schnee shut the door. "Oi, Deku! You ok?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" He finished tying his left boot quietly as the thought of Todoroki and the dream he had stayed constant in his mind, as if it was eating his sanity up, inch by inch.

His blonde sister noticed his odd silence, however. She knew something was off. She glanced over to the closed door across the room, and slowly began to put the pieces together, at least, the pieces to the puzzle a nosy sibling would configure when butting in on their brother's...love life.

"Ooh, so you got a crush on that Nora chick, huh?" Suddenly Deku felt his personal space get violated as the busty blonde's elbow pressed on his shoulder as she gave a promiscuous look, "I know, I've been in that place before, right Ruby?"

"Mhm," Their middle sibling said indifferently as she continued to pet Crescent Rose, a gesture of which Deku could not immediately figure out why. I mean, he knew she liked her weapon just as much as an actual person, but... _that seems like a little much,_ he thought.

"It's not that…" Izuku pushed off her suspicious sister, "It has to do with Todoroki…"

"Woah," Ruby's eyes widened in misunderstood confusion. Suddenly her precious Crescent Rose didn't seem as important to her as her brother claiming to have come out of the closet. "Bro, I had no idea you swung that wa-"

"It's not that either!" He cut off any further misunderstandings with a raised voice and green energy sparking around him for a second or two. "It feels like I've seen him before...but...I can't place where, or when…"

"Well, Todoroki Schnee does live in Atlas," Yang interjected, "Along with the rest of the Schnee family, pretty much. We lived in the woods in Patch, dude, I'm pretty sure you haven't seen a rich boy like that in your life." After she saw Deku hesitantly nod, changing the conversation seemed like the best idea. Her brother seemed a little unnerved after their last exchange. "Sooo…" Yang said in the awkward silence, "Which team do you want to be on?" She asked to the both of them.

"I dunno…" Deku said with apprehension. That never really occurred to him before. Yes, he had overheard the second and third years passing by that they will form teams, but how many people per group was beyond him. So far, the only people he knew were him, Yang, Ruby, Weiss, Todoroki, and that girl his sisters had tried to speak to when she was trying to read a book. Blake, was it? "Maybe a team with you two?"

Before the busty blonde could give a proper response, the school's intercom spoke in a commanding feminine voice, "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

"Welp, that's great." Yang slipped on her Ember Celicas and punched them together to see if they still worked. It was a while since she slipped them on for combat. Two months, maybe? Luckily, the empty Dust chambers fired, which, since there was no Dust or Dust bullets, made only a clicking sound. "It's time to head out, kiddos, and get initialized and stuff."

"Initiated." Deku corrected.

"Whatever."

* * *

Beacon Cliff overlooked an expansive forest, which reached from one end of the horizon to the next, flush with pure greenery from there all the way to the mountains and cliffs in the distance. The sun shone down upon them with full strength, as the amount of clouds in the sky was equal to the score Ruby got on her Algebra test (big fat zero). "I mean, what do "x" and "y" have to do with numbers?" His sister's light voice rang in Deku's mind as he overlooked the glistening forest, "Math is numbers, not English!"

"For years, you all have trained to become warriors." Ozpin, who would of course be supervising the Initiation, spoke again to address the class, "And today, your abilities will be trained in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," Glynda took over the metaphorical microphone, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors of the assignment of teams." The whole class nodded lightly in confirmation, "Well, let us put an end to your confusion. You will be given teammates...today."

 _Gulp._ Deku almost choked on his own spit.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon Academy," Ozpin said, "So it is recommended you choose someone whom you have the ability to work well with."

 _Gulp_ , again, this time the two clots meeting together and Deku wasn't sure if he could force it down without coughing.

"That being said," Ozpin continued, "The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest," Ozpin explained, "You will meet opposition along the way, and they will not show any mercy toward you, so you should not show any mercy to them either, otherwise your death will be imminent."

 **Music: "HERO A" - Yuki Hayashi**

 _Gulp._ Okay, that was enough. Izuku punched it all down with a beat to the chest, which both hurt him and amped him up. _What Professor Ozpin had to say is...almost crazy,_ he thought, _but I can't give up here. I've made it this far, I won't let them down._

Meanwhile Ruby's reality literally got turned upside down. "WHAT?!" Deku lightly chuckled. She wanted to come here, so this was her fate. And it was also his.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation, but our instructors will not intervene unless a dire emergency occurs. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and then return to the top of the cliff. We will regard the item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Deku had one, "Um-"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Izuku turned his head, and realized that they were getting launched off a huge springboard, hence why Ozpin instructed them to stand atop them in the first place. There were 16 platforms, and they were getting launched left to right, which meant Izuku would be last. He saw Weiss go, then that Blake character, then a redheaded girl, then a dude with a mohawk, Nora, and a guy in knight's armor with a haircut that screamed _jerk_. Todoroki was next, and he seemed to give Deku an odd glance before springboarding away. Yang turned to her two siblings while slipping on a pair of aviator shades. She mouthed, "Good luck" while giving a wink. She blasted off faster than the majority of the first-years. Ruby gave a smirk at Deku before shooting off.

Deku squatted down, activating his Semblance in his legs. _I guess now is a good a time as any to test out that new technique I've been working on..._ his shins burned for a second before the awesome power surging through its veins, but calmed as the green electricity sparked around the teen. _I haven't even told Ruby or Yang about this..._ _I wonder what they'd think about this?_

"5%...Full Cowl!" **(0:49)** His extended his legs at just the right moment of the springboard, and flung himself farther than any other rookie. Every person took notice of Deku's speed and control, his movements through the air as if he had practiced free falling dozens of times before this!

In reality, he had no experience falling from great heights, but he did know the physics of taking off of an inclined object, such as a springboard that had just extended, although he did not expect himself to be flung this far. The rest of the students were at least a whole Airship-length behind him, but that also meant he was the closest to the ground as everyone else. He would have to find a way to land, and fast. He grimaced as he found himself sailing downwards at speeds that would kill normal men. _Oh, shoot._

Ozpin watched as the students all took to the skies and slowly descended to the forest floor like Icarus falling from the heavens. Some were graceful, some were erratic and unprepared, but the silver-haired man took special notice to Izuku in particular. After sipping from his coffee, he tried to remember what Deku had said before he took off. _Full Cowl…what an intriguing name..._

 **(End Music)**

"Ozpin," Glynda abruptly cut off his train of thought. "Izuku Xiao Rose, age 14. Youngest in Beacon Academy by a few months. Has no actual weapon, and yet his Semblance and his use of it seems to be quite extraordinary."

"Yes," Ozpin agreed. "We'll have to look into him further. That, and the younger Schnee. Todoroki, was it?"

Glynda shifted her scroll to another transcript, this one of the student Ozpin requested. "I will take note, sir."

* * *

 **Initiation has begun.**

 **Three chapters in, too! As you can see, I'm planning on burning through Volume One. It'll probably only be 3-4 more chapters, and Volume 2 won't be much longer than Volume 1 is. I really need to get to Volume 3.**

 **I don't have much to say about this chapter, since it was mostly exposition.**

 **Just kidding I know you have one important question: "WHERE THE HELL ARE JAUNE AND REN?!"**

 **They're not present. (For right now) I'll explain why at a later date :P**

 **I'll see you next week!**


	6. The Emerald Forest, Redone

**So...how about an early chapter? We all like early stuff, right? I know I do. That's why I have Amazon Prime :P.**

 **There is a good reason why I'm releasing it early, however. It's because the next chapter will probably be 2-3 weeks late. Family stuff is beginning to get in the way, so I won't be able to write and, considering I like to be ahead, I won't be uploading chapters to stay ahead of my writing. However, that also means that I'm falling behind of my promised weekly posting of chapters. So here it is, two days early to make up for the delay. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapter 5 out by the end of the month.**

 **Anyways.**

 **This chapter is the first half of Initiation, and covers chapters 4-7. If you think that's a lot, it's not. Volume 1's episodes were really short: the shortest being 4 minutes while the longest being barely 16. You can see how much I want to get done with this Volume, and thankfully, I'm getting close.**

 **As of right now, I've started writing the first chapter of Volume 2. Yes, the food fight. Expect a really detailed battle scene featuring foodstuffs.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P.S. I don't have a clever name for this chapter, as you can see.**

* * *

Chapter 4- The Emerald Forest, Redone

Initiation had begun for the students of Beacon. The Emerald Forest seemed like a benevolent place of nature where you could go with the family for a picnic. But behind that beautiful veneer was a harsh landscape chocked full of malevolent beasts, a fact that the first years were about to learn. But first, landing. How were they doing?

"OH GOD I'M FALLING!"

"AAHHHHHH!"

"BIRDY NO!"

About as well as Ozpin expected. He nonchalantly sipped from his mug again as he watched one person in particular, Izuku Rose, attempt to make his descent not look like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Green electricity surged around the boy as he tried to find a good spot to jump off from. The wind whipped past his face, slapping his eyes again and again with torrents of air and dried them out to the point of minimal vision. If he were to make a move, he'd have to make it _now._ Then he found it; a pattern in the growth of the trees which would make it easy for him to slow down quicker. He made contact with the first oak, the harsh impact being numbed by his Semblance as he used the tree to kick off to the next. The huge oak shuddered as Deku took off to the next trunk, the birds taking to the air as their nests shook with a powerful force.

 _Next tree..._ Deku bounced off the other with much more finesse, as his speed had decreased due to some of his kinetic energy being absorbed by the tree and slowing his speed. Therefore, the control of where he were to land next would be easier. He zig-zagged from trunk to trunk, sometimes hooking onto branches and shattering them into splinters as he took off again.

Finally, he was slow enough to the point where he could make it to the ground safely. He zipped forward, deactivating Full Cowl as he tucked his head and shoulder rolled onto the dirt to spread out any further damage before popping back up. He took a long exhale as he put his hands on his knees, already exhausted from the landing strategy he had made up in the few seconds he had to prepare. _That was rough..._ shaking his head to ward off any incoming headaches, he pressed onward.

The forest was sparse in undergrowth. The most he saw were thick patches of bushes, and maybe some boulders, but besides that the trees were the dominant species of Emerald Forest. It made visibility slightly more viable than rather, a luscious, rainy, and prosperous-with-life jungle, and also means of traversing it. But it also meant it is easier for people, and in the other case, Grimm, to find you. _I have to find Ruby or Yang...I can't not be on a team with them!_ Deku said to himself as he activated Full Cowl - this time at 4% as to relax his muscles a little bit-, and took off into the woods.

Across the forest and up on a branch, one first-year had taken notice of Izuku's incredible speed and seemingly impeccable landing. The sight on her gun focused on the teen as he sprinted through the forest at speeds that track runners would be jealous of. Pyrrha Nikos smiled. He was the first person she had saw, which meant that he'd also be on her team. "I see..." She muttered as Deku leapt over a fallen log, _I guess the chips fell in my favor. I'm glad I'll be able to work with such an amazing student!_ She pressed a button on her gun, and instantly it began to transform into another weapon; a spear, red and gold and sharper than a razor. She aimed her throw perfectly, trying to get her weapon to hit the ground just in front of Deku so as to get his attention. She threw, the spear soaring through the air at a perfect arc before coming down to Remnant and piercing the grass-

-right in front of Izuku. At first he had thought it was a Grimm throwing a spike at him, or something, but as he looked up he noticed the redheaded warrior waving back at him. He smiled, gesturing to come down to meet up with him. _Well, I guess Yang and Ruby are off the table,_ he thought. Pyrrha leapt off the branch with no hesitation, and stuck the landing with finesse. _But I have a good teammate, and that's all that matters._ He activated Full Cowl again to meet up with her.

* * *

For Todoroki, landing was a lot easier. All he had to do was activate his Semblance, blasting a wave of ice onto the earth which formed an inclined half-rink that he used to slide on when he landed, therefore slowing his fall to a halt. He dusted himself off, watching the ice as it slowly melted into the grass. _That was easier than expected,_ he thought. _But I have a feeling it won't be all fine and dandy very soon…_

He stepped through the oddly silent forest, his iced-over boots being the only thing that made noise. It was quiet. _Too_ quiet. So much to the point where the Schnee thought something was off; no birds singing, no frogs croaking, heck, not even any leaves crinkling. It was as if the wind and earth decided to take a power nap for a few moments in time, but it just so happened to create the most eerily tense situation Todoroki has ever been in. He's walked around Schnee manor alone before, sure, but he had at least bumped into a butler or maid once in awhile. Here, the Emerald Forest was so big that the thought of getting lost in the woods seemed like a very plausible situation.

Then he heard it. The hiss. It was faint, but the forest was so quiet it may as well have been played through a megaphone. He stopped, looking with his eyes behind him, and he swore he could see a black body coil behind him. He was being stalked by a predator larger than which his sister Winter could conjure. The hissing became louder, and now he was certain that a Grimm, perhaps a snakelike Grimm, was making its way towards him to make him its next meal. "Like I would let you," He said.

The Grimm did not take kindly to the insult. It jerked forward, it's black anaconda-like head pouncing forward ready to snip Todoroki's head off his neck. Then it felt cold. Before it could even reach within a meter's length of its target, a wall of ice shot up from under it and stabbed into its neck, holding it in place and keeping its mouth shut tightly as the cold seeped up its body. Ice began to overwhelm the Grimm's head. Yes, it was the King of the Taijitu, but to Todoroki it was nothing more than a punching bag. It was powerless, utterly powerless. He hadn't even turned around to acknowledge it yet!

The huntsman-to-be turned around towards the trapped Taijitu. "I'm not going to be anyone's dinner today, _monster._ " He stepped forward, placing one hand on the Grimm's snout. It hissed at him the loudest it could with it's closed jaw, but by then the roars of anger or even the cries for mercy didn't help it as Todoroki spread a layer of Ice over the Grimm, effectively freezing it like a snake popsicle. It wasn't going to move anytime soon, not until the ice was melted, which, since there was a lot of ice encasing it, would probably cause it to die of cold before escaping.

Todoroki exhaled, his breath foggy from the sudden drop in temperature. One of the biggest Grimm ever discovered, and he had defeated it in seconds. _But wait..._ he suddenly realized, _don't King Taijitu have-_

The hissing began again. _Two heads._ This time, the white side of the Grimm made no attempts to intimidate; it attacked quickly, attempting to avenge its fallen half. Todoroki grimaced. He made no attempts to dodge, or even an attempt to run away. But the ice forming on his right side grew, and the circle of frost doubled in area. The other half of the Taijitu almost didn't see it coming as Todoroki mouthed:

"Sorry." Almost instantly from his feet grew a massive glacier of ice, the spiked ends stabbing into the Grimm's body like spears digging into soft flesh. The glacier grew gigantic in volume, dwarfing the trees surrounding it as it broke the upper layer and pierced the open air. It was visible from miles around, and at the base was a struggling Taijitu as it flailed in an attempt to escape, but the icy cold was already too much for it to bear. It dissipated, leaving a huge mass of ice sitting at the center of the whole Forest.

Almost at the same time of the Taijitu's death sparked another eruption of energy. An explosion rocked the woods, and smoke billowed into the sky as fire spread throughout the trees. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the smoke and faint orange glow in the distance. _A fire...there's only one person who can use elemental magic like that effectively,_ he frowned, _Weiss, what have you done?_

"Qrrraaww! Qrrraaww!" _Another Grimm?_ Todoroki turned, ready to face whatever beast was planning on chomping on him. Instead, all he saw was an upside-down Valkyrie smiling at him from the tree branch. "Nora, for the last time…" He said with an exasperated tone in his voice, "Turtles don't make that sound."

* * *

Overlooking the Emerald Forest was Beacon Cliff, the nearest drop off point from Beacon Academy, and where the students have...ahem, _gracefully_ taken off from at the start of initiation. The two remaining professors, Ozpin and Glynda, were supposed to be observing their scrolls as to examine the first years' actions and decisions down in the forest, and to keep track of whom has paired up with whom. But in fact, they have noticed that one side of the forest had a giant glacier of ice sticking out from the treetops and the other side was, well, on _fire._ "Who do you think it was?" Ozpin asked coyly. He already knew exactly who the culprits were, but he figured he'd ask anyways out of politeness.

"The ice seems to have been Todoroki Schnee subduing a King Taijitu. I know that those Grimm can grow up to a hundred feet, but don't you think that Semblance is...a little much?" She watched at the glacier glistened in the sun's rays. It was massive; almost big enough to swallow an Atlas military ship whole. "There seems to be no limit to Todoroki's abilities in combat. That Grimm didn't even lay a scratch on him."

"Yes, but do note that we have not seen his skills in hand-to-hand," Ozpin explained, "He seems to rely on his overpowered Semblance far too much to carry him in battle. That will someday come back to bite him."

"That is true, sir." Glynda agreed while pulling up who had caused the fiery eruption across the forest from the glacier, "It also seems that Weiss Schnee had caused the fire due to a misstep from a Dust attack. Her form appears to be good, but Ruby Rose did interfere, causing her to miss."

"I see…" Now the man's interest has shifted from the Rose's to the Schnee's. Weiss's Semblance is one he has yet to see, but judging by how powerful Todoroki's Semblance was, Weiss's is probably not far behind in terms of strength. They both managed to create giant elemental landmarks in Emerald Forest, albeit one being intentional and one being accidental, but their prowess is one that Ozpin could not underestimate.

Glynda's scroll went off again, signifying the next, and in this case last, pair formation. "Our last pair has been formed, sir: Todoroki Schnee, and Nora Valkyrie. Poor boy, I can't imagine those two getting along…"

"Hm…" The silver-haired man was only paying half attention. With his coffee mug empty, he only examined his scroll, observing the students make their way to the relic area. Cardin and his gang had already made it there, and were making their way back towards the cliffs, but Ruby and Weiss, Blake and Yang, Izuku and Pyrrha, and Todoroki and Nora all had some ways to go. He glanced over to the Rose and Schnee, and he lightly chuckled at the fact that they had no idea where they were going. Despite their bickering, he could see them becoming friends...eventually. Blake and Yang were moving the fastest out of all of them, mostly due to Blake's quick thinking and Yang's pummeling of any Grimm that tried to cross them. Todoroki and Nora seemed to be getting along as well as an introvert would with an excitable extravert, AKA the former tolerates the latter's rants. However, Deku and Pyrrha seemed to be having a thoughtful conversation on-

* * *

"Aura?" Izuku asked, "I think Yang said that it was this…forcefield, of some kind that protects the user from injuries and heals wounds, correct?"

"Good, at least you know what it is." Pyrrha smiled. She had hoped that Izuku wasn't a complete idiot, like Cardin and the rest of his... _friends,_ were, and thankfully her hunch was right. He was timid at times, yet when duty calls, like when they get attacked by Grimm or when a serious topic comes up, Izuku seems to gain confidence in himself. Pyrrha could admire that fortitude, besides, it's what made her such a talented warrior. "But there's a little more to Aura than just a 'forcefield'. It's essentially the manifestation of one's soul, and it bears our burden and shields our hearts. With practice, our aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

"I'm assuming that the Grimm do not have Aura, right?" The green-haired boy asked. He already kind of guessed Grimm don't have any Auras or Semblances, but it didn't hurt to ask someone who clearly knew a lot more about the topic than he did.

"Correct. The monsters that we fight lack a Soul, and therefore lack both a Semblance, and an Aura. They're the literal manifestation of evil, chaos, anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. _Everyone_ has a bit of both."

" _They are the darkness, and we are the light."_ For some odd reason that line replayed in Izuku's head over and over. _Grimm are darkness…_

* * *

As Deku zoomed towards the Grimm, something appeared in his mind, as if it had intentionally lodged itself in his memory even though he had no recollection of it. A man, with a deep, enthusiastic voice boomed in his head.

 _A person's true character is revealed when they're faced with danger, it said, But there is opportunity. A chance to shine!_ The green-haired Rose pulled his arm back, and the entire limb bulged as his veins illuminated with an unforeseen power. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the Ursa at unquantifiable speeds. _So clench your buttcheeks, kid...and yell this, from the depths of your heart!_

" _SMASH!"_

* * *

 _So...in a literal sense, my Semblance is the light?_ He stared at his arm. Green lightning coiled around it as his Semblance sparked through his body for a moment. _This is...a weird feeling…_

"Izuku?" Pyrrha's soft voice cut Deku from his trance. The boy blinked, looking back up at the Amazonian warrior. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Izuku clenched his fist. The thought that just came into his head still shook him. Pyrrha had said that all Auras had both a benevolent and malevolent sides to them, but Izuku's felt...pure. There was something about his Semblance that felt as if there was no evil within it. It was as if it was something that was purely made to combat evil, hence why he is able to destroy the Grimm so easily with it. "I just felt a little light headed, is all."

He lied. He felt if he were to tell his true feelings about his Semblance to Pyrrha, that she wouldn't believe him. She did seem to hold on to her beliefs like the Gospel, like pretty much everyone else in Remnant. _Everyone who has a soul has Aura,_ he thought to himself, _and everyone who has Aura has a Semblance. So why do I only have a Semblance?_ _Or is my increased durability with my Semblance my Aura? Or...is Full Cowl just an amped up version of my Aura?...I need a break..._ Izuku breathed. He felt like he hadn't taken an inhalation the entire time he was internally ranting. "I think we should keep moving. The relics shouldn't be too far ahead."

"Alright, then." Pyrrha nodded, staying a few paces ahead of Deku as they began moving as to cut down any foliage with her weapon. Speaking of which, the fact that Izuku doesn't have an actual weapon intrigued her. "May I ask, why do you not have a weapon?"

"Well…" _How do I say this bluntly and in summation…_ "My Semblance doesn't really require me to have a weapon." He activated Full Cowl. The green electricity coiled around his body as he went from 4 to 5%. "My Semblance enhances my agility, speed, strength, and durability all at once, but currently I'm only able to handle so much of it. Before, I could only release my Semblance in quick bursts through my limbs, which would break under the pressure, but I learned to control it by outputting a certain amount throughout my whole body. 5% is all I can muster without my bones getting stressed."

"I see." Pyrrha nodded. Needless to say, it was one of the weirdest Semblances she had ever come across, and she had met and fought lots of people in her lifetime. "I have never heard of a Semblance similar to that before. It's a special one, Izuku. Be sure not to abuse it."

"I try not to," He said as he deactivated Full Cowl, "That's why I'm having my sister teach me hand-to-hand combat so I can use one to strengthen the other, and vice versa." Pyrrha nodded in reply as she hacked down a bush. Suddenly, Izuku wondered, "What's your Semblance?"

"It's Polarity," She said simply, "I can control the movement of metallic and polaric objects to a certain degree. I am able to use wide-range, but I normally use it in combat to shift the enemy's weapon just a little to give me the upper hand."

Before Izuku could reply, they found themselves atop a small cliff, overlooking what appeared to be old stone ruins in the shape of a circle. There were twenty pedestals along the circumference, and each pedestal held one statuette that Deku could not see from their current distance. "Think this is the place?" Pyrrha asked.

Deku nodded, "Most likely. Let's get the relics and head back." Without saying a word they slid down to the ancient ruins and surveyed their options. There were two different color schemes among the relics; black, and white. Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Kings, Queens, _Yep, chess pieces,_ Izuku thought as walked among the relics. He noticed that some of the pillars were empty, and he assumed that some pairs had made it here before them. "Wanna go for...White Rook?" He picked up the corner piece in chess. He never noticed it looked like a tower.

"Sure!" Pyrrha looked around the relics and noticed there was only one more piece that had the exact same shape and color. "I'm assuming whomever also chooses this piece will be on our team, right?"

"Yeah." Izuku said, but internally he was begging to whatever gods were out there to- _Let it be Ruby and Yang...let it be Ruby and Yang…_ A malicious growl echoed throughout the area, coming from the nearby surrounding bushes. _That doesn't sound like Ruby or Yang._

Pyrrha was already on guard, and slowly put her back to Deku as he activated Full Cowl. He looked around the nearby forestry. The birds had gone silent, and wind seemed to have stopped. It was as if the whole forest held its breath in anticipation for what was to come. Then it stepped out of the darkness. It's bearlike body was covered in white plates and spikes, and its red eyes gleamed brightly, contrasting against its inky black body and glaring directly at Deku. The Ursa Major roared, charging forward with its giant sharp paws.

Deku got into a defensive stance, his Full Cowl crackling around him as the Ursa advanced. _I can use a higher percentage of my Semblance, but I have to be wary of the relics. Breaking them is probably not a good idea..._ the lightning sparked brightly as the electric coils hit a higher percentage. He leapt to one pillar of the ruins, and used it to bounce towards the Ursa Major at blinding speed. His arm glew brightly as he began to condense Full Cowl into his right arm. _If I can make the hit, then nothing will be broken! Wait-_

 _Why isn't it moving?_ His overestimated shot caused him to eat the dirt. He rolled onto the grass and turned his head back to the unmoving Ursa.

Inside the Grimm's throat was a golden-red spear that lodged itself into the mouth, which pierced into its brain and killed it instantly. It was already dissipating before Deku could even stand back on his feet. "I could have taken him," He said.

"True, but with Grimm you must be quick in killing them," Pyrrha replied as she picked her weapon back up, "Especially when-"

The growling persisted, this time seeming like it was coming from multiple directions. Beowulf Grimm stalked out of the bushes, at least a dozen of them outnumbering and trapping the two students in a small defensive circle. "-they can be in large numbers like this."

Izuku grimaced, activating Full Cowl again. "We'll have to fight our way out, then." They both gave a nod before jumping into the fray, the Grimm roaring as the two warriors broke into their ranks.

* * *

"Do you think _this_ is it?"

"I'm pretty sure Professor Ozpin wouldn't hide the relics inside of the dark cave."

"Worth a shot! C'mon!" The girl grabbed Todoroki by the arm and literally dragged him in. There was no source of light, so tripping over a rock and into a chasm hundreds of feet deep onto stalagmites was a very reasonable possibility. The Schnee tried to protest by pulling back and saying, "Nora, this isn't the right place," but the Valkyrie's determination was as strong as her grip on his forearm. Any tighter and he was certain that a bone might break.

They were deep enough in the cavern that sunlight could not carry them any further, and they were quite literally in pitch black darkness. Nora, however, kept moving forward, and the more steps that she took the more Todoroki began to feel an uneasy presence lurking in the shadows just ahead. He saw a light, maybe twenty meters from where he was standing. Nora noticed it as well, and finally let loose her iron grip on Todoroki, "I think that's the relic," She said quietly, which was notably unrealistic for her character, "I'll scout ahead, you stay here." Before he could protest Nora was already sprinting to the glowing object that looked as if it were…

 _Hovering?_ That sinking feeling in the white-redhead's gut grew deeper. _That's not the relic, that's…_

"AHHH!"

 _Crap._ The "relic" began to move, advancing on Todoroki and the closer Nora at an alarming speed. The Valkyrie rushed back to the boy faster than he could see, and instantly latched herself to Todoroki's back. "We'regonnadieWe'regonnadieWe'regonnadie…" Nora's tone of voice seemed oddly...excited? Out of fear or happiness Todoroki couldn't decipher. That girl was already a puzzle to him to begin with.

"Nora, we're not going to die!" His Semblance kicked in as he ran towards the light of the entrance of the cave. Frost shot out from his right foot, freezing the floor and walls of the cavern in a sheet of ice. The cave's temperature dropped as the Grimm further down hissed in annoyance as the ice crawled up its eight legs, slowing it down just enough for Todoroki and Nora to make it out of the cave alive. "Did we make i-" The Grimm smashed through the small cave, revealing itself in its full glory. It's pincers were the size of cars, and its stinger was large enough to eviscerate three whole men in a row. The Death Stalker roared, now free of its millennia long slumber and ready to lay waste to the sorry humans below it. In fact, it had just targeted its first meal…

"Dammit…" Todoroki cursed aloud. He never swore often, having come from a sophisticated upbringing, but in a situation where he was getting chased down by a giant black scorpion the size of a bus? I think if Winter was here she'd give him a pass. The Death Stalker flailed its enormous arms like wrecking balls, squashing and slamming trees aside as it scuttled towards Todoroki and Nora. The ice the teen was making was sufficient in slowing it down, but the weight of Nora on his back was laborious, as well. She didn't have the boots to run on the ice, so she was forced to stay on Todoroki's back. "At this rate it'll catch up to us. We need a distraction!"

It was then that they noticed a girl falling from the sky. Yes, you heard me correctly.

"AHHHH!" A high-pitched scream of terror pounded against Todoroki and Nora's earlobes as they looked up to see who was the unlucky schmuck who was falling from a height that would kill a normal man. A giant dark bird the size of a building screeched from above, and they assumed that that was where the girl had fallen from. _Dark clothes, long red hood...I think that might have been that girl that argued with Weiss._

He finally was given the excuse to release a giant ice wall again. The giant barge of frost shot out from Todoroki's foot, blocking off the Death Stalker from any further advancement. The iceberg grew, now breaking through the trees as Todoroki made a smooth slide-shaped side on one end and a spiky and jagged end on where the Grimm was pursuing them. The girl landed on the ice at a slight angle, and safely slid down towards the duo. She blinked her eyes open. For a moment she thought she had been gracefully picked up by angels and brought down to the Gates of Heaven, but she did find it weird that her "guardian angel" had half white and half red hair. Then she realized, _Oh hey, it's that kid that Deku for some reason knew…_ "Thanks...oh God I need a break…" She passed out. The white-redhead sighed.

"Nora, you go on ahead. I'll have to carry her." The orangette agreed and dashed her way up the forest while Todoroki picked up the unconscious Ruby. His eyes narrowed at the glacier, which was already starting to melt and crack as the Death Stalker from the other side pounded against the ice. _My Semblance is most effective when my body temperature is normal...Since I already used a big attack before, this glacier isn't as strong as the last...I'll have to move quickly._ He retreated into the woods, creating more floors of ice as he delved deeper into the forest.

* * *

It went from twenty Grimm to three. They almost didn't know what had hit them. Izuku's power and quick thinking went hand-in-hand with Pyrrha's skills and overall overwhelming prowess on the battlefield. Within the space of a few minutes each Grimm was picked off like thorns on a rose.

The third-to-last Grimm fell as Pyrrha slammed her shield into the beast's neck, crushing its larynx and shattering its throat. The second-to-last Grimm was defeated when Deku smashed his fist across the monster's face, screaming "SMASH!" As his 8% Full Cowl Smash ripped the Beowulf's head to pieces. The last Grimm, a particularly large Ursa Minor (not as large as a regular Ursa Major, however), ran in and slashed its claw across Pyrrha's shield, however the golden hielaman was barely dented by the sharp edges of the beast's paw. The Amazon-like warrior backflipped out of the way, signaling for Deku to finish the job. "Now!"

Deku leapt up, heightening his Full Cowl to a higher percentage, but not quite enough to permanently shatter his limbs. _I only need to increase it for a second,_ Izuku thought, _Just like every other time!_ "10%...SMASH!" His fist slammed into the Ursa's lower jaw, sending it soaring through the air as it began to dissipate from the absolute power behind the punch. The impact plus the increased percentage stung Izuku's hand, but he lowered his Full Cowl before it made any more damage. He could take a slightly sprained arm, but if his arm were to shatter in a deadly environment like the Emerald Forest he may as well be toast. "That hurt…" He looked at his knuckles. They were quite literally steaming, and the skin was red from the impact. "At least nothing's broken…"

"Wow." Was all Pyrrha could get through her choked up throat. This young teenager, two whole years younger than her, had just sent a Grimm into the stratosphere. It was almost a fantasy… "You have a lot of strength in your Semblance, Izuku."

"Thanks…" He gripped his left hand. He had a feeling it was going to sting for a while. "I still have to work on controlling the output, though," he chuckled, "I have to keep it at a certain percentage otherwise my body can't take it."

"What the heck?"

"I know, it's a really complicated Semblance, but-"

"No, I mean up there!" Pyrrha pointed to the air, and Deku turned his attention towards the sky. The Grimm he had launched, which was already half disintegrated, was falling back down to Remnant with a...passenger? "Is that who I think it is?"

The girl in the white dress activated her Semblance, and black glyphs appeared just below her and the Grimm, slowing their descent just enough for it to be survivable. She hit the ground with a thud, but the Ursa took the brunt of the damage, causing it to disappear completely and leaving a relatively unharmed ice queen sitting in the grass and casually looking at her nails. "I would have been fine, you know," She said as if launching a 500 pound Grimm into the sky to coincidentally meet up with her was done on purpose. "But thank you, anyway." She stood back up, surveying the ruins that both Pyrrha and Deku were currently standing in. "So, I'm assuming this is the place with the relic-"

"WOOHOO!" _Boom._ An Ursa Major burst through the foliage, giving a mighty roar before-

-It collapsed as a black sword stabbed into his skin, paralyzing it and giving it instant death. "Whelp. it's dead." Yang Xiao Long jumped off from the dead Ursa. "That was fun while it lasted."

"There was really no point in keeping it alive, you know." A black-haired girl jerked out the blade from the disintegrating Grimm, "Grimm are Grimm. They kind of have to die."

"Yang!" Izuku waved towards his sister. His time spent in the Emerald Forest, even though in reality it probably hasn't even been an hour, felt like years. The Emerald Forest does that to people sometimes.

In mere seconds Izuku found himself in his sister's arms. "Oh my God, are you okay?!" The blonde exclaimed, "What's that cut on your face? A Grimm?! What did this?!-"

"Yang, I'm fine, don't worry!" He parted from her hug and gestured towards Pyrrha, who was awkwardly standing there as Yang and Deku had their embrace. She doesn't do very well with intimate moments, but this one in particular...hit home. She was obviously spacing out when Deku tried to get her attention. "Pyrrha? You okay there?"

She blinked herself back to reality. Any inner thoughts she had would have to wait until later. She was in the middle of a deadly forest, for chrissake. "O-Oh! Sorry! Hello!" She gave her common courtesy to Yang, who raised an eyebrow at her hesitation.

"Yeah, we had each other's backs." He gave Pyrrha a thumbs up, then looked behind his sister to get a better look at her teammate. _Oh, it's that girl that Yang and Ruby tried to make friends with!_ "How's your partner?"

Yang gave a cocky smirk as her partner, Blake Belladonna, walked up next to her. "If I do say, I think we both make a great te-" She tried to put her elbow on Blake's shoulder. Needless to say, she stepped to the right before Yang could make contact. "-am. Ow."

Blake smiled, if ever so slightly. Sure, her main intention wasn't to make friends, but seeing the person she'd spend the rest of her time in Beacon with smack her face into the dirt was pretty darn funny. "C'mon, Yang. Let's choose a relic."

"Yeah…" The busty blonde dusted herself off. _That was a bit embarrassing..._

Luckily, that little stunt she failed to pull would easily be overshadowed by a _giant scorpion ripping through the trees like they were cars being crushed by an Atlas military-grade tank._

"Oh." Was all Yang could get out of her mouth at the ridiculous scene. The Death Stalker was chasing down a girl in a pink skirt and a giant hammer and a boy with white and red hair, who was emitting ice from his right foot and carrying- "IS THAT MY SISTER?!"

"Is that _MY_ sister?!" Deku exclaimed.

"IS THAT MY BROTHER?!" Weiss screamed in horror. _What the hell has Todoroki gotten himself into?!_ _Oh yeah, and Ruby..._ "Andtoalesserextent is that my partner?!"

"Do-Do you think they need help?" Blake asked. The rest of the students hesitated. Most of them were apprehensive of charging head-first into a battle with one of the biggest Grimm they've ever seen. They all silently opted to watch.

Except for one.

"Izuku!" Pyrrha shouted as he sprinted away, "Where are you-!"

Deku grunted as Full Cowl burned through his veins again. Realistically, 4% would have been the safer decision, but _running at that speed, I might not make it. I'll have to go further beyond…!_ He went up to 6% and felt his bones and joints begin to strain, but in return he ran at speeds none could comprehend. _I can make it at this rate! C'mon, body...don't fail me now!_

"Deku, wait!" Yang yelled after him, but by then he was already halfway to them.

Izuku scanned the situation as he sprinted towards the three students at superhuman speeds. Nora was ahead of them, and Todoroki was both carrying his sister while using his _Ice_ Semblance to freeze and ground behind him to slow the Grimm. Frosty stalagmites the height of three full grown men jutted into the air, apparently another attempt as dissuading the Death Stalker from advancing. Deku grimaced. How was he supposed to go about this?

 _Todoroki's ice is slowing the Death Stalker down...but not by much. However, I think I can use the pillars of ice he's creating as objects to bounce off of. If I can build enough speed, then a full frontal blow to the face might be enough to stun it!_ He leapt up, planting his feet on one of the spike-cicles before pushing off to another. Doing this over and over, his momentum built, and he slowly rose his Full Cowl from 6% to 7%, and so on. He then aimed one last boost right at the Grimm's face, building his Semblance to 8% and screaming-

" _Smash!"_ A left handed strike directly to the Grimm's face. Pain rocketed up Izuku's arm, but he could tell it wasn't broken, only shaken by the blow. He ground his teeth. _That...stung…_

Unfortunately for him, the Death Stalker _also_ thought that that attack was just a mere sting. It took a few steps back, but nothing more than that. Deku's eyes widened in terror... _This thing wasn't even phased!_

"Deku!" He heard his older sister's voice scream out to him from a distance. Yang was getting closer to him, and at this point he had to admit he needed the help, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I-I…!" He couldn't give a proper answer, as the Grimm he thought he could easily best was snapping its pincers together in anger. The monster's beady red eyes glared at Deku, like it was trying to figure out how to tear apart the boy limb from-limb. It swiped one of its gigantic arms, but Deku barely managed to dodge by exerting Full Cowl primarily in his legs, boosting him upwards. Still, though, he felt the Grimm's hard exoskeleton scrape against his boot, and the light screeching of metal on shell caused him to wince. _I have to run…!_ Retreating was something Deku never liked to do, but he knew his limits. Fighting a Scorpion big enough to crack a car open like a can of soda was probably something he couldn't deal with on his own. He ran. Hard.

So hard that Full Cowl gave out on him and he collapsed halfway to his sister, hitting the ground with a thud after he tripped over on himself. _Wh-What?!_ He struggled to get to his feet, but to no avail. _Is this really the limit of my Semblance?..._ Now that he thought about it, he did pretty much use Full Cowl throughout the entirety of the Emerald Forest; he used it to land, to run through the woods, to fight off the hordes of Grimm, which he had exerted far too much power for, and he sprinted and attacked a fully-fledged Death Stalker with a risky plan and pure power-which didn't even hurt it! _Dammit...I should have been more conservative...but why now of all times?!_ He turned himself over. The Grimm was approaching, the pincers swiping away all of the ice like wrecking balls and the tail poised to strike; its pincer dripping with what Izuku could confirm was venom. It was mere meters away, and from what he could tell Yang was much farther away that _it_ was to him.

The Death Stalker roared as it approached its next helpless meal. _Is...is this the end…?_ He closed his eyes. At the very least, he didn't want to see himself be turned into a human shish-kabob. _Yang...I'm sorry…_

Yang was too far away to make any difference in what was happening. The rest of the initiates looked on in horror as the Death Stalker crawled up to Izuku's paralyzed body. "IZUKU!" Was all she could yell.

 _I'm so sorry…_

 _..._

 _..._

…"ROSE!"

"R-Rose?..." He opened his eyes again at the masculine voice that called out his surname. He expected to see a stinger pierce his chest and kill him painfully- but instead, all he saw was a great plume of orange flames.

* * *

 **You know, maybe it wasn't a good idea to take a 2-week hiatus now considering that cliffhanger.**

 **No, just kidding, it was a perfect time. Torturing people with a cliffhanger is the most fun when you're on the giving end, haha.**

 **So Deku can push Full Cowl higher when using it on Grimm. Yay, I'm pretty sure that was obvious. He doesn't want to use the regular Smashes- as that would create too much damage, as you can see what happened to that Ursa back in chapter 1-, so he resorts to slightly more powerful punches.**

 **It does make them weaker, however. Powerful Grimm like a Deathstalker can take hits from weak OFA punches. It's like...only taking half of your prescription of antibiotics. Yes, the antibiotics kill the bacteria _very_ effectively, but when there's not enough the bacteria survive. That's my logic on that. **

**Oh yeah, one more thing: Izuku and Shoto _don't_ have Auras. I repeat, they _don't_ have Auras. I'm not saying why, but they don't. I made the decision because it balances them out; Todoroki is now a sort of glass cannon (or should I say...Ice Cannon? Haha...ha...ha.), plus he already has sufficient defense and offense with his Ice, and Izuku already has his Semblance to protect him. So...yeah.**

 **That's all I have to say about this one. I think I explained most of it in this chapter, but if you have any questions and critiques please feel free to address them in a review, it's much appreciated :)**

 **I'll see you soon! (Three weeks, at the latest)**


	7. Team INPT (Independent)

**And the break's over. How about that? Shortest "hiatus" ever, haha!**

 **Long story short, family crisis averted, that's all you need to know and now I'm back and ready to write. Yay!**

 **So...three big things (for me, at least) have happened over the course of today and yesterday. The first thing is My Hero Academia Season 3 Episode 4.**

 **Hype. Hype over 9000. Or in this case...over 1,000,000 ;). Like, seriously, that is my new favorite episode of the Season. Even though I'm a manga reader, that episode was beautifully animated and the story it told, the morals it taught, the audio and the visuals as well as the characters involved just all...clicked.**

 **Muscular was an intimidating, albeit generic but that's the point, Villain. A perfect, psychotic and powerful monster of a villain that Deku could just _barely_ fight on equal footing with. If I were to compare him to any RWBY villain it'd probably a combination of Tyrian and Hazel: Strong, has a past with a protagonist, and is actually insane. Maybe that's not the best comparison but that's what it reminded me of off the top of my head.**

 **Anyways, the second thing is: It's Mitsuha's birthday.**

 **You know, Mitsuha Miyamizu? Your Name? _Kimi no Na wa?_ If you do know her, today (April 28th) is her birthday and seeing as she's one of my favorite anime characters I decided to honor the movie by releasing this now. **

**P.S. If you haven't seen Your Name watch it ASAP. It's one of the best animated movies of 2016-17 (the other being A Silent Voice)**

 **Third thing: Attack on Titan Season 3's trailer dropped yesterday (April 27th). July 22nd. I already want it to come. Even though I'm a Manga Reader, just like My Hero I am hyped asf.**

 **Phew...that spiel is over. Yeah, as you can see Anime's hit a sweet spot for me.**

 **And so has this story! This is the 2nd longest and my favorite chapter I've written. Why? Read it to find out, I ain't spoiling it here.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5- Team INPT (Independent)

He knew he had to act.

That boy was willing to jump in for them to buy enough time for them to escape. Nora was just ahead of him, and Ruby was only now beginning to come to. "Nora!" Todoroki yelled, "Take her, I'll help Izuku."

"Right." Nora gave a knowing and actually earnest nod, which was something that took Todoroki aback. For the short amount of time that he's known her, Nora's been pretty happy-go-lucky... _at least she knows when to get serious._ He handed Ruby off to her and turned round, running as fast as he could towards Izuku and his, at least he thought was, a fruitless effort. _If that thing can break through my glaciers, then there's no way he can do any significant damage._

However, what did surprise him was Izuku's movements. The boy used the pillars of ice he created to build momentum and speed for himself, to the point where he was a blur to Todoroki! Then, he charged right for the Death Stalker's mouth, and-

He was right. His punch barely harmed it. "Crap, I have to move!" He ran faster, melting the ice with his left side to make the ground easier to-

 _What the hell?..._ He immediately stopped in his tracks. _My left side...why the hell am I using it?!_ He inwardly chastised and scolded himself. _I made a promise...I will never use it. Not in combat, or outside of it. Never. Never…_

Todoroki gripped the scar over his left eye. _That_ incident was never told outside of the manor, as Jacques Schnee was quick in silencing all of the butlers and maids within the mansion, and yes, even his family. After that day, his father had made sure that Todoroki not use his flames in any situation, _ever._ His father practically silenced a whole part of himself just to keep the Schnee name regal, rich, and, most importantly, royal and elegant. _Flames are the opposite of that,_ was what he was reminded of daily by his father, and his brother, Whitley.

"I...can't…" His left Semblance faded, in place of his right continuing to freeze over the area around him.

"IZUKU!" A yellow blur sprinted past him. It was a girl, presumably a friend of Izuku's? He turned towards the situation at hand. Izuku had fallen, just barely crawling away from the giant, dark Scorpion that was threatening to either tear him in half or stab his heart out of his chest. By how close the Death Stalker was, the girl would never make it to him. As far as he knew, he was the only one close enough to save him. He tried activating his ice, but it wouldn't summon. _What the hell?!_ _This hasn't happened before!_ No matter how hard he tried, the ice wouldn't emit from his foot, heck, not even from his fingertips.

It was then he realized the right side of his body was very, _very_ cold. He looked at his arm. It had small ice crystals on the skin, which were building up in size, threatening to come together and consume his body in frostbite. _I've been...overusing my Semblance..._ He gripped his shoulder with his left arm. _I can't...go forward..._

 _Is...is this the end…?_ Izuku closed his eyes. At the very least, he didn't want to see himself be turned into a human shish-kabob. _Yang...I'm sorry…_

Todoroki grimaced. _Izuku_...I'm _sorry…_

 _...No._

A life was worth a lot more than a grudge, no matter how bitter that grudge was.

He felt his left side begin to pull at him, beginning to light a fire in both him and his body.

" _It's YOUR power, isn't it?!"_

 _Those words..._ It was faint, distorted and almost inaudible, but it was there. _Where have I heard that before?!_

" _You want to reject your father, fine; but you don't have the right to be number one if your don't use your full power!"_

 _Where…?! WHERE?!_ The power within him grew, and expanded outward, aching to break through the walls of near-impenetrable ice that had plagued him for so long…"ROSE!" He wanted to, desperately, but-

A flash of white zipped past his left side. It seemed to slow down as it passed him, and his sister's pale azure eyes narrowed at him, as if saying, _Don't you dare…_ Weiss' Myrtenaster was aimed right at the Death Stalker, and with a precise slash downwards a wave of flames burned into the Grimm's black exoskeleton, the monster screeching in pain as Deku began clawing his way out of danger.

 _"I can't take it anymore...Shoto's left side, it's starting to look unbearable to me…"_

The light faded as soon as it was realized. The white-redhead fell to one knee, gasping at the frigid air in an attempt to warm his body, which has fallen to borderline hypothermic temperatures. He looked up. Yang was holding up Izuku by one arm, and Weiss was not far behind them, acting as both a guard and an usher as she guided them back to the rest of the students.

 _I'm...useless..._ He had done nothing this entire skirmish. He couldn't save Deku, hell, he couldn't even go beyond his past mistakes! He just stood there, like a deer in headlights as his sister took care of everything...

" _Stand up! If you get hurt that easily, then you can forget about beating -, let alone a small-time villain!"_

This voice was a lot different than the last. While the previous voice was small and hard to make out, this one was loud and clear, and the deep, masculine tone gave an air of intimidation and shook Todoroki to his core, like a _father_ scolding a _son_. He hated it the instant he heard it.

 _Shut up..._ He got to his feet, his teeth clenched in rage. _Whatever that damn voice is, shut up! I can do this myself!_ Luckily, the small push of heat from his left warmed him just enough to fire off one more barrier of ice between him and the Death Stalker, and immediately after he turned tail and ran, making back to the group a few seconds behind his sister.

"Todoroki...are you alright?" Izuku asked.

"I'm fine." He took a breath. No way was he about to look vulnerable in front of people he'd presumably be with for the next three years, especially since this initiation is basically their first impressions of each other. "What's the plan?"

"Well…" His elder sister put her hands on her hips as she addressed the group, "I think it's safe to assume that fighting that thing head-on is a dumb idea. Besides, our _actual_ goal is right in front of us." She gestured to the relics that were still somehow intact despite all of the fighting going on around it, from Ursas to Scorpions.

"Ms. Schnee is correct," Pyrrha interjected, "Our mission assigned by Professor Ozpin was to grab the relics and make it to the top of the cliffs. Fighting that Grimm will only exhaust our resources."

"You hear that, Deku?" Yang nudged her brother with a subtle reprimanding tone, "No running into things head-on from now on."

Izuku hung his head. He almost got himself killed, and for what, to save people who didn't need saving? "I just…" He remembered looking at them as they ran...Ruby's helpless and limp body, carried by a frustrated Todoroki being escorted by a panicked Nora...they looked desperate. "I just thought they needed the help, so I jumped in…"

"Well…" The light voice caught everyone by surprise as Ruby finally got her bearings together. Now on her own two feet, she looked ready to kick some Grimm butt again. Izuku smiled with admiration, _she's always been determined...but I haven't seen that fire in her eyes before…_ "No sense on dwelling on the past. I mean, I got stuck on a giant bird and almost fell to my death, and see? Perfectly fine. You shouldn't get so worked up."

"What's that bump on your head, then?" Nora deadpanned.

"Nora! You totally just destroyed my mojo!" She took a breath and continued, "Anyways, let's choose a chess piece and get outta here!"

They didn't take long choosing the pieces. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang snatched the two White Knights:

"Ooh! Horses are my favorite! Weiss, let's choose this one!"

"I personally like bishops, but since I don't see any, I'll indulge you."

"How about...a cute little pony!"

"Yeah, sure. Why not."

...While Todoroki and Nora agreed on the Rook:

"Rooks are like towers. Tough, hard to penetrate. Like a turtle! OOH! YES! Let's go with this!"

"...Odd logic there. But fine."

Suddenly the sound of ice shattering resounded through the forest as the Death Stalker finally broke through the layers of ice barriers Todoroki had created. Its pincers were nearly frostbitten, but it didn't stop it from snapping them open and shut, in preparation for crushing the humans that it opposed. It glared down the clearing, spotting the eight huntsman and huntresses in training and scuttled forward, its giant golden stinger poised to strike.

"I think it's time we move." Todoroki warned, rubbing his skin with Fire Dust to get rid of the ice on his right side. It burned, but at least his body temperature was rising to normal degrees.

"Yeah." Ruby took to the head of the pack, surprisingly. "Let's go." She dashed forward, her natural speed causing everyone to lag behind her. Except for one…

"5%!" Izuku darted towards his sister, reaching her in a matter of seconds. He calculated his speed back in Patch, and apparently 5% allowed him to sprint at a top speed of 40 miles per hour- most likely faster than 95 percent of the population. "Aha! Got ya!" Deku smirked, "You'll have to go faster than that!" They were running side-by-side...for a brief moment.

Unfortunately, Ruby responded with an evil smile. Deku read that as "You really think you won?"

"Watch me." She gave a cocky grin, and then all that was left was rose petals as Ruby doubled, no, quadrupled her speed and dashed ahead so fast she was quite literally a red blur.

Even when at traveling at speeds that even professional huntsman would have trouble keeping up with, his sister was still a blur to him, albeit a slightly lesser blur. Ruby was simply too fast for him, just by judging how mind-bogglingly quick she zipped past him every time they tried to race.

Within the space of merely a second Deku saw her perched atop a boulder, signaling for everyone to press onward before taking off again. "You don't need to show off, sis." He rolled his eyes. He admired his sister's determination and seemingly natural leadership-he just wished she wasn't showing off her superior speed in the process. He gave a look behind him, and everyone else seemed to be at least keeping up. Yang was using her _Ember Celicas_ to catch up while Weiss was using her glyphs to heighten her speed. Everyone else just sprinted as fast as they could, not wanting to expend any Dust.

"C'mon, Deku!" Yang shouted from behind, "Give us a chance!"

For a moment, Izuku actually felt like waiting for them, until his _other_ sister's voice screamed from afar:

"You're too slow!"

Suddenly something sparked within Izuku. A competitive side of himself was reignited. His eyebrows furrowed and his teeth clenched as he put Full Cowl to the limits. "You're on, Ruby."

Despite his best efforts, Izuku still lost. By a long shot. It turns out when Ruby said, "You're too slow", she had already made it to the ruins. Oh well.

The green and red duo caught their breath as the rest of their teammates caught up to them. As they saw them get over the hill, however, a screech echoed through the forest. A giant avian Grimm soared into view, creating a vast shadow that covered Deku and Ruby for a full second- and considering that it was travelling quite fast, that was impressive.

The eight students huddled behind the ruins as the Nevermore perched atop a tower and shrieked with a mighty yet ugly roar, its black, feathery wings unfurled, making it seem twice its size. It's giant, beady crimson eyes locked in on the students below. It's warship-sized body was the sole thing standing between the students of Beacon and the Cliffs.

Well actually, the second thing. The _other_ barricade blasted through the trees with its massive claws that could snap whole tree trunks in two, and a stinger sharper than a sword tip. The Death Stalker was free of Todoroki's ice and hissed aggressively and loudly. Spotting the students, it scuttled its way towards them with its stinger dripping with a clear venom.

"Crap." Yang muttered under her breath, "Well, this is great. Stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"We gotta move!" Ruby shouted to the group, "We _have_ to make it to the cliffs!" The students took that as the signal to run. With Ruby in the lead, they created a small V-shaped formation, its backside guarded by the only two boys in the group-Deku and Todoroki.

"Is everyone ahead of me?" Todoroki turned towards Deku, whose Full Cowl was on 3% to conserve energy. The white-redhead turned, and the Death Stalker was gaining ground on them.

"Yeah." Izuku nodded, but his eyebrow raised in slight confusion. "Why?"

Suddenly Todoroki's expression darkened, and Deku took that as the opportunity to just follow whatever he says. "Get ahead of me too." Deku nodded, boosted his Full Cowl to 5% and ran ahead to his sister.

"...Now then." Todoroki stopped in his track and turned his attention towards the Scorpion Grimm.

"Todoroki, what the hell are you doing?!" Weiss shouted from ahead, "You're going to get yourself killed!" _I swear, if my brother gets himself hurt again..._

"I'm fine." He muttered, not caring that no one heard him. His eyes narrowed at the Grimm he had run from this entire initiation. His Semblance kicked in instinctively, his boot growing cold as it prepared to reign frozen hell upon the Death Stalker. Not only has the bastard broken through his attacks, but it was also the thing that _insisted_ on chasing him. He had had enough. "Let's see this pain-in-the-ass get out of this one."

The Death Stalker almost didn't know what hit it. In a flash, the ground went from grassy and warm to unforgivingly cold and frosted with a layer of ice. A momentous glacier, almost as big as the one Todoroki used on the Taijitu pierced into the sky, the ice glistening in the sunlight. The Death Stalker's face, tail, heck, its entire body was completely covered under tons of frozen water; the edge of its sharp pincers being the only thing that stuck out.

"Oh." Yang said with a ironically expressionless face. "Shit."

"Yaaang!" Ruby yelled, "Watch your language!"

"I guess Todoroki took care of that one for us…" Pyrrha said, the group now slowing down as their main threat was currently buried under three-hundred feet of ice. "That just leaves us with the Nevermore. Any ideas?"

"Um…" Blake stared at the giant bird that was currently encircling them, waiting for one of the students to get out of line so it can snatch them for dinner. "I'm not sure yet."

"How about…" Ruby's voice faded as Izuku looked up at the Grimm. Its body alone matched the Death Stalker in size, let alone its humongous wingspan. If they were going to take it down, they needed to hit it hard.

" _Hey, -_ _!"_ His own voice rang in his head for a moment, but for some reason he didn't think of it on his own, it just...appeared. And he didn't know why. It was like a lost memory...but it felt so familiar…

" _Deku! Do you have a plan yet?" A...female voice?_ Deku thought, _Who is this?...she seems so close to me...yet I can't even remember who she is!_

" _Yes, actually. - is too strong for me to face him head-on, so what we'll need to do is take advantage of the rules of the game."_

" _What is it?"_

" _On my signal, I want you to grab a hold of any pillars in the room. I'm going to feign a clash with -, but I'm actually going to punch upwards, creating a hole in your room. I want you to somehow use the debris to catch - off guard, and using your Zero Gravity you can soar over him and grab the goal. Got it?"_

" _Wow...that's super complicated. Did you make that up on your own?"_

" _Y-Yeah, why?"_

" _Heh, amazing, Deku. Alright, I'll be waiting on you. Be careful..."_

" _I can't afford to be. I'm pretty sure - wants to seriously hurt me at this point. Everything up until now has just been for the sake of passing the test...but now it's personal."_

He had no idea what just played out in his mind, as merely words rung in his head. He had a few glimpses of a blonde kid with what looked like...giant grenades on his hands? He shook his head. Whatever it was...he'll have to figure it out later. His eyes narrowed at the Grimm above him. _This is the actual problem._

"...And that's that!" Ruby finished, "You got all of that, Deku? You seem to be spacing out over there…"

"Hm?" _Oh, crap._ He blushed out of embarrassment. He had no clue what his sister had said over the past minute... _or was it two minutes? Agh, darn it..._ "Oh! Um...uh...can you repeat that, please?"

"Wow, was my plan really that boring for you? I was going to cut the Grimm in half, for pete's sake!"

"S-Sorry?..."

"Jeez, cut our sister some slack, will ya?" Yang said with an obvious hint of sarcasm, although they were not sure who it was aimed at.

"I-It's nothing…" Ruby said rather weakly. _Obviously it isn't nothing...I'll have to forgive her, it looked like she was on a roll there!_ "A-Anyways, what was your idea, Deku?"

"Hm…" He looked at the Grimm on more time. Then at the giant glacier with the frozen Death Stalker. And finally...at the cliffside. Something sparked in Izuku's mind, and he suddenly had a plan that would include everyone, and would guarantee that both Grimm would be down for good. "I got it. You all ready?"

All of the students nodded. "Good."

* * *

"Hm...rather intriguing." Ozpin sipped the last of his coffee than set it down as he watched the last of the students huddle together. "It seems Mr. Rose has taken somewhat of a leadership role in this."

"Should we take that into consideration when choosing the team leaders?" Glynda asked, also watching as Izuku ran down his plan.

"Of course. I think he'll make quite an interesting leader. Ruby, as well. They both seem fit for a captain."

"I see." Glynda nodded, noting some things on her scroll, "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long as one team, and...Izuku Rose, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos and Todoroki Schnee as the other. Is that right?"

"Mm." Ozpin dismissively agreed. _Now, I wonder how they'll handle this predicament. The largest aerial Grimm ever discovered and the third largest overall...this won't be a cakewalk for them._

* * *

 **[Music: "You Say Run"- Yuki Hayashi]**

 _Okay, first, we'll need to limit its mobility, which means we have to damage its wings. Does anyone here have any...say, explosive ranged weapons? Nora, you do? Okay, good. We'll start with that._

The orangette pulled out her weapon, which resembled a grenade launcher with some feminine touches. Loading it with explosive dust bullets she then fired it at the circling Nevermore, and the canisters exploded on impact. The Grimm screeched in discomfort as feathers the width of tree trunks fluttered down below. It glared downwards towards the students, but as it descended its trajectory was noticeably more erratic, signifying damage to its wings.

 _Next, we have to actually get it on the ground. Yang, I want you to get its attention by shooting at it with your weapon, as your Ember Celicas are more accurate than Nora's. If it goes for the bait, jump in between its mouth and fire a few shots into its throat. It's no guarantee, but I believe it will probably choke on them and collapse. Just make sure it falls along the cliff._ **[0:28]**

"Alright, it's my turn." The busty blonde activated her Ember Celicas, and used them as propellants to shoot her into the air. Landing safely on a large pillar, she took aim at the giant Nevermore and launched shot after shot at the avian Grimm, some missing, some hitting their mark. Now getting pissed off, it turned its attention towards Yang. "Come to papa, you oversized crow."

It did not take kindly to that insult, and then opted to swallow the annoying human whole. Fortunately, Yang was not going to take that sitting down, and, holding the Grimm's mouth open with one arm, quite literally emptied her rounds down the Grimm's gullet, emphasizing each shot with a word:

"I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUN. GRY!" Realizing they were getting dangerously close to the cliffside, she jumped off as the Nevermore crashed into the granite. **[0:48]**

 _Weiss, I want you to use your Ice Dust to hold its tail in place so it can't escape._

Already in position, the female Schnee sped forward, slashing her Myrtenaster downwards. A path of ice streaked down the stone and into the cliffside, shooting upwards and snaring the Grimm's tail as it tried to flap away. It was stuck, which was the perfect opportunity for-

 _Ruby and I. Now, we're going to have to incapacitate it before we can deal the finishing blow. I have the perfect attack for that, but it's going to be Ruby who's going to finish it off by-_

" _Cutting its head off?"_

 _Yep._

" _Sweet~! Let's do it!"_ **[1:03]**

Blake was already waiting atop a pillar for Yang to fall back down, and as soon as she did she tossed one half of her Gambol Shroud to Yang, and since they were connected by a thick ribbon, it was the perfect catapult.

It was Ruby's turn to jump into action. Using Crescent Rose as a guard, the red huntress pulled the ribbon backwards, increasing its tension and creating a makeshift slingshot. Weiss, who made it back to her teammate, activated her gravity Glyph to hold Ruby in place before she shot forward without a clear trajectory. "Think you can make the shot?"

"Hmph. Can I?" Weiss asked coyly.

"Can y-"

"Of course I can! Now, we just have to wait for your brother…"

 _My Semblance is strong, but used wrongly and it can potentially break my bones. The only thing that prevents me from doing so is my Full Cowl, and when I use it on Grimm._ **[1:26]**

"Pyrrha, break the ice!"

"Right." Nikos' weapon transformed back into a spear. Throwing it as hard as she could, the spear flew at near supersonic speeds and slammed into the ice, easily cracking it and, a few moments later, shattering it into pieces.

 _Yes, freeing the Grimm is a risky move, but I need it. If not, I'd break my legs trying to take off._

The Death Stalker was free once again. With a mighty roar, it aimed to finally kill the humans that made bested it so many ti-

-it's stinger was sliced right off its tail by the cutting edge of Pyrrha's shield. It screamed in pain as its own venom rushed into its bloodstream, but that incapacitation was the perfect opportunity Deku needed.

"5%...Full Cowl!" He jumped into the air, landing onto the Death Stalker's exoskeleton, right between its eyes. Since the Grimm was too busy with a stinger in its back, Izuku was safe.

 _Todoroki, the crater I'll make from taking off will probably kill the Death Stalker, but just in case it doesn't I want you to bury it in the ice, for good this time._

" _Alright."_

"Now I can release more...!" The green electricity around Deku sparked brighter and hotter as he brought Full Cowl to a higher percentage. _Focus it in my legs...there!_ The shockwave from his blast-off was mind boggling; it totally swept away all of Todoroki's ice and slammed the Grimm into the ground, flattening it like a pancake. **[1:52]**

"Now it's time to finish you off…" Todoroki grimaced as his _Ice_ shot out of his foot and into the crater. The Grimm screeched in pain as Ice burned into its cracked exoskeleton and into its fleshy innards. It stood no chance before the frost, and, finally, it lost consciousness and began to dissipate. Todoroki spat. "Good riddance."

Nora, Pyrrha and Todoroki turned their attention to the boy in the sky. His arms were at his sides, trying to become as aerodynamic as possible to go as far as he could, but he could already feel himself slowing down. "I knew it...five percent wasn't nearly enough...I should have gone higher...!"

He then passed Weiss and Ruby, and they took that as the signal. "Now!" The Schnee yelled.

 **[The Best Part: 2:05)**

"Heh…" Cocking Crescent Rose, Ruby smirked at the screeching Nevermore. Weiss released her Gravity Glyph, and the ribbon blasted Ruby forwards quicker than Deku. She had no problem catching up to him, and the two found each other in the air.

"Oh, hi!" Izuku said sheepishly. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

Ruby grabbed Deku's hand in response. "We shall."

She turned Crescent Rose sideways and fired a shot, causing the two of them to spin round at speeds that would probably cause normal people to vomit. Every bullet Ruby fired caused the green and red duo to spin even faster, the siblings now looking like a nondescript Winter Holiday spiral in the sky. Once she thought they were fast enough the crimsonette threw Deku as hard as she could towards the Nevermore, his speed now revitalized and probably faster than Ruby's own semblance. "GO!" She yelled, but Izuku was so focused that he couldn't hear her.

"I got this...c'mon, I got this!" His arm illuminated with an awesome power, as his semblance increased to crazy amounts, percentages that would shatter him from the strain on his muscles and bones…

His arm was burning as most of his Full Cowl went into his right arm, at an _extremely_ high percentage. If he didn't let out all of this pressure on the Nevermore soon, his arm would shatter. Closer and closer he went, until the blackness of the Nevermore's body filled his vision, and then-

 **(2:27)** "SMASH!"

The impact was stronger than any other punch Deku had thrown before. A shockwave blasted outward in all directions, knocking some of the students off of their feet. The ruins crumbled and the trees whipped back from the sheer force of the blast, the leaves being torn off the branches and the branches being torn off the trunks. The Nevermore's feathers were ripped from its body, exposing its dark, vulnerable underbelly as it crashed into the cliffside, making a large and shallow crater.

Despite the force of the blast, the Nevermore was still moving. It cawed weakly, somehow alive after an attack of that magnitude. Unable to fly and literally stuck in the cliff, it could do nothing but wait for its inevitable destruction.

Izuku's arm was sore, but thankfully not broken. However, the sheer collision of his fist into the Nevermore's body was enough to exhaust him. He felt unconsciousness pull at him again, but he fought it the best he could. "Ruby!" He shouted upside down as he looked at his sister, "It's up to you now!" **(2:48)**

"Don't worry about it, bro." Ruby winked at Deku before turning back to the Nevermore. "My turn."

Refilling Crescent Rose in mid-air, Ruby began emptying the whole magazine just to get her speed up again. She grabbed Izuku by the arm and threw him up, safely tossing him onto the bluff, although she wasn't sure if he landed on his feet or not. "Oww!" Deku yelped in pain. Apparently he didn't. "Warn me next time!"

"Sorry!" She yelled back, cocking Crescent Rose as the next bullet rang out, and she finally approached the target she wanted; the Grimm's neck.

The Nevermore shrieked in pain and agony as the red huntress pinned its head against the wall, locking it in place with Crescent Rose's blade. With its lungs exhausted and its throat being pressed shut, it lost all feeling in its body as Ruby tugged the blade further into its neck. It was only a matter of time before it gave out...

"I got you!" Weiss, who was still trying to recover from what she had just witnessed, got over her shock and awe for a moment and activated her Semblance _._ Her Glyphs appeared on the cliff, changing the gravity for Ruby and allowing her to run sideways. Yelling at the top of her lungs and firing the last of Crescent Rose's bullets, the huntress dragged the helpless Grimm by the throat up and up the cliffside until finally-

 _Slice._

The Grimm's head came cleanly off, like a knife through butter. Ruby flipped through the air and landed picture-perfectly, on one knee with Crescent Rose's hilt on the back of her neck. Rose petals danced through the skies, and the once mighty Nevermore's body came crashing down, falling into the white abyss below.

"Way to stick the landing there, Ruby." Izuku smiled in admiration. "That was amazing!" **[3:39-End of Song]**

Ruby reverted her weapon back to a gun before replying, "I could say the same to you, bro! That punch was _so_ powerful! That might have been even stronger than the one you used on the Ursa!"

"R-Really?" He walked over to the cliff's edge with his sister. The duo looked at the damage they had just caused. Well, mostly Deku. All of the trees surrounding the ruins within 100 meters of it had leaves ripped off the branches. Birds from miles around had taken to the sky, startled at what had just happened. The ruins looked even more dilapidated than they already were, and there was a large indent in the cliffside that would be a landmark for their initiation. Further beyond the ruins was a fire that overtook acres upon acres of land, and two glaciers that spiked into the sky, sparkling in the light. "Wow, we really destroyed this forest, didn't we?"

"Yep! I'll say." Ruby sighed. It wasn't every day that you got to see something this breathtaking. The Emerald Forest, the most dangerous forest in Vale, was now burning, frozen, and blown away-somehow all at the same time.

Exhaustion finally took over the two of them. Deku, from overexerting himself, and Ruby from, well, beheading a Grimm the size of a building. They both collapsed simultaneously, sitting on the grass as they waited for the rest of the students, and at this point, _teammates_ to get up the cliff as well.

Ruby lay her head on Izuku's shoulder, her tiredness getting the better of her. "Please tell me nap time is after this…"

"I think we're getting our team names after this. Maybe after that?"

"Oh Lord, please let it be after that…" Ruby yawned, "I feel like I could sleep for months!"

"Same…" The green huntsman gave a look at his arm. It was still sore, and Ruby leaning on it certainly didn't help, but it was thankfully not broken in any way. He removed his glove, and his hand, knuckles in particular, were red and slightly bruised.

"Jeez, that looks a little rough…" Ruby said, "You really should get a weapon or something. Just using your hands for battle is probably not a good idea."

"Well, it's the most effective way I can use my Semblance," Her brother countered, "I can't really put my Semblance into my weapon...although that would be cool…"

"Not for me," Ruby's voice became a little louder, "If that was possible, Crescent Rose would always run away from me. And Yang's would be angry all the time."

"Hey!" Deku raised his voice. "That's true!"

They both laughed out loud, although it was more of a tired laugh than an energized one. Sleep was definitely overtaking them…"Hey, I just thought of something..."

 **[Music: "** **ヒーローになるんだっ** **!/I Will Become a Hero!"- Yuki Hayashi)**

Ruby turned her head to address him, although her silver eyes did make her look fatigued, "What's that?"

"So, you know how you and Yang have a nickname for me?"

"Yeah, it's _Deku_. Why do you ask? Do you not want us to all you that anymore...?"

"N-No!" Deku shook his hands in denial of her assumption. "I like the name, actually..." His sister's expression calmed. _Thank gosh..._ "I was just wondering: should I give you a nickname?"

"Wait, you want to give _me_ a nickname?" Ruby laughed nervously. She recalled back to when they had gone to that Dust shop, and how that trenchcoat guy had called her "Red"... _That guy was a creep._ "U-Uhm...okay, what did you have in mind?"

"How about..." Izuku did his signature over-thinking pose and put his hand under his chin while staring up into the air. " _Aneki?"_

"'Aneki'?" Ruby raised her eyebrow. She hadn't heard of that word before...then again, she hasn't heard a lot of words before. English wasn't her strongest subject in school. _Well I guess 'Deku' is kinda unique too..._ "What does that mean? Is it a type of food?"

"N-No?..." Izuku looked at _Aneki_ in confusion. "Why would you assume that?"

"Well, it's because of this game I played on the game console we have at home. Weirdly enough, it had this item called a 'Deku Nut'. What was the main character's name called again?...Zeld-"

"Link. It's Link."

"Oh yeahhhh...sorry."

"Anyways, _Aneki_ doesn't mean a type of food. It means 'big sister'."

"But I'm shorter than you."

"Not literally! By AGE, dummy!"

" _You're_ the only dummy here, _Deku._ "

"Well whose idea was it to get stuck on a giant Nevermore in the sky, _Aneki?_ "

"...Point taken." Ruby muttered, implying that she had receded in the argument. Deku inwardly fist pumped, as _I_ _finally won an argument over my sister! Or, I guess, Aneki now!_

They both broke into laughter. They always had the weirdest and most pointless arguments... _But hey, that's what makes it fun!_ Izuku thought. After a few minutes, they realized that it was still them two, no one else. _Huh. They're taking their sweet time..._ Deku thought.

"When do you think they're gonna get up here?" Ruby asked.

"I dunno. They're taking a lot longer than usua-"

"Ooh! Todoroki, look at these two lovebirds!" Nora ran up to them, and if it wasn't for the male Schnee holding her back she probably would have tackled them.

"You do realize they're brother and sister, right?" Todoroki said with a weirded-out tone in his voice. _Weirdo…_

"Oh...OH GOSH! I'M SO SORRY!" Nora prostrated herself for forgiveness, but the damage was already done.

"Agh!" Izuku jumped up in surprise, energy suddenly coming back to him, "She's my sister! It isn't like that!"

"IknowandI'msorrypleaseforgivemepleasepleasepleaseplease-"

Todoroki facepalmed, _Nora, you're going wayyy too far…_ Todoroki sighed as he saw his...friend? Ally? First person he met at Beacon? Try to get Deku to forgive her, to her surprising success.

"No no, it's fine. I can understand how people could think that, I mean, we don't exactly look alike…" He rubbed the back of his head. _How can I get out of this one?_...

The Schnee stayed silent for the whole endeavor. It was amusing, but it was definitely something he shouldn't butt into.

Todoroki turned his back. No way was he getting into that nonsense.

"What's all of this ruckus about?" The rest of the students had finally made it back up to the cliffs, i.e. Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha. Yang in particular was curious as to why Nora was prostrating Deku like he was some sort of god.

"N-NOTHING!" Nora and Deku yelled simultaneously.

"O...kay, then?" The eldest sister of Deku and Ruby raised an eyebrow. There was clearly something going on, but for some reason they were adamant about not telling her. She gave a shrug, _Meh, maybe I wasn't meant to find out what it is…_

"Todoroki!" Weiss stomped her way up to her little brother, and he half expected Weiss to absolutely admonish him for being so reckless with his _Ice,_ but-

-What, you expected Weiss to be nice? Nope, he got exactly what he expected. "You were so...reckless out there! You could have gotten seriously hurt, not only did you almost get killed by a Grimm, you overused your Semblance to the point that you almost killed yourself!" She pointed to the two giant glaciers that were slowly starting to melt.

"Um, if I'm reckless, then who was the one who created the forest fire, again?" He gestured to the fire burning through the Emerald Forest that, if it didn't get stopped soon, could actually burn it all down.

"Ah, shut it!" She shot back rather aggressively. "That wasn't my fault! And speaking of _fire_ , you almost used your le-"

"Alright students, settle down." Ozpin's commanding yet calm voice caused all of the students to cease their bickering immediately.

 _Jeez, he really likes to sneak up on people, doesn't he?_ Izuku thought. _I didn't even notice him!_

"Let's all head back to the Academy." The silver-haired man said. "Your teams will now be assembled."

The eight huntsmen and huntresses-in-training all silently filed in behind their Headmaster. Weiss and Todoroki were in the front, still arguing over who did more damage to either themselves or the forest. Pyrrha and Blake stayed mostly silent, but Yang still had that weird, lingering feeling about her two siblings and that Nora girl…

"Sooo...you're not going to tell me what happened?"

"Nope." Deku and Ruby answered quickly.

"Okay then."

 **[1:28-End]**

* * *

"Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark. You four retrieved the _Black Bishop_ pieces, and from this day forward you will work together has Team CRDL _(Cardinal)_. Led by...Cardin Winchester."

All of Beacon Academy was present in the Amphitheater as the teams from Initiation were announced. Ozpin had just announced the third-to-last team to be initiated, Team CRDL, consisted of kids that Deku and the others did not...take too kindly towards.

"I don't trust them…" Ruby whispered in her brother's ear. "They all look like potential bullies."

"I'd agree." Deku said, "Keep your distance from them, will ya?"

"Mhm…"

"Next is: Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long…"

"Ooh! I'm up!" Ruby exclaimed, "C'ya!" Ruby got off from her seat and joined her teammates up on the stage with Professor Ozpin.

"Your four procured the White Knight pieces. And therefore will be known as...Team RWBY ( _Ruby)_. Led by: Ruby Rose."

The crimsonette blinked. Obviously she had not absorbed the information yet. "Waitwhat-"

"RUBY I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!" Ruby almost fell over on stage in front of the _entire_ school from Yang's surprisingly strong hug.

"Ow ow Yang please stop…" She tapped her on the shoulder in submission by she didn't seem to stop crushing her at all.

Ozpin inwardly sighed at the gesture. Such amenities he was beyond at at this point of his life. _It is heartwarming, however, the feeling that goodness is still present in this world…_ He turned his attention towards the female Schnee, whose gesture was quite sour. _I wonder what got Ms. Schnee all worked up…_

"And finally…"

 **[Music: "** **君はヒーローになれる** _ **You Can Become a Hero"**_ **\- Yuki Hayashi]**

"Alright, here we go…" Izuku whispered as he got off from his seat, almost at the same time as his three teammates.

"Pyrrha Nikos, Todoroki Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, and Izuku Xiao Rose." They all got into a line with their arms behind their back, a gesture that Izuku did with a bit of exaggeration. Ozpin chalked this up to just nervousness on stage… "The four of you have...surprised me and our staff."

"Ooh, it looks like Deku's team is getting some special treatment!" Yang nudged her sister, "I'm so proud of him!"

"Yeah…" Ruby smiled, "He's done so much over the past few years...he deserves it." She saw it; the gleam of excitement in Izuku's eyes when he jumped towards the Nevermore...that intense stare he had. In the space of merely a year, he had gotten a hold of his powerful Semblance and had not only matched his sister in strength and technique, but also her skills. _Heck_ _, does the road, he might even become better than me…_

 _No, let's not think like that. If he's getting better, I'm getting better too!_

"Dammit, Todoroki!" Weiss crossed her arms in disapproval, "How come _he_ gets the special spotlight and not me?!"

Ozpin pressed his scroll and a huge screen popped up in the middle of the ampitheatre. It showed Todoroki's massive Ice Glacier, Izuku taking down Grimm after Grimm in tandem with Pyrrha, Todoroki freezing the King Taijitu with only two attacks _and_ killing the Scorpion Grimm, and finally, Deku punching the Nevermore into the wall so hard he caused trees to be whipped back and whole rocks and branches to be launched into the air. "You have shown such powerful skills, techniques, and Semblances during your time in the Emerald Forest, even beyond most second and third-year Teams."

"You have stood above the rest, _independently_ from them all. Which is why, from this day forward, you will all be working together as Team INPT _(Independent)_ , led by...Izuku Rose." **[0:45]**

"Wha?! Me?!" Deku pointed to himself multiple times in comical fashion, with a priceless surprised expression on his face. "B-But I'm not fit to be a captain!"

"I think that your plan to defeat that Nevermore speaks volumes of your leadership qualities." Ozpin said. "Congratulations young man, and to the rest of you. I hope you find yourselves excelling in this Academy."

"Thank you…" Izuku said before... _attempting_ to walk off the stage. But, well, he couldn't, as the whole theater stood up with a resounding ovation for them. **[0:59]**

"Woo! Go INPT!"

"You guys have such powerful Semblances! That's so awesome!"

"You punched that Nevermore into smithereens! So cool!"

All of those words...those hit home for Izuku. Suddenly, a new memory rang in his mind.

Despite all of the hardships he faced...how much opposition was thrown at him, here he was. In the biggest school for huntsman and huntresses in the world, being celebrated by the entire school for just his accomplishments on the battlefield alone… **[1:12]**

" _ **There are stories behind every hero, how they became great. Most have one thing in common…"**_

" _GET AWAY FROM HER!" A green blur sped past Ruby, almost as if he had stolen her Semblance. The Grimm barely had any time to react as Izuku's arm became inflamed in an electric aura, his veins seeming to glow with a newfound power. Izuku seemed to lose all control of himself when he saw Ruby in danger. Something...overcame him, driving him to jump in the fray and save her..._

 _As Deku zoomed towards the Grimm, something appeared in his mind, as if it had intentionally lodged itself in his memory even though he had no recollection of it. A man, with a deep, enthusiastic voice boomed in his head._

 _A person's true character is revealed when they're faced with danger,_ it said, _But there is opportunity._ _A chance to shine!_ _So clench your buttcheeks, kid...and yell this, from the depths of your heart!_

" _SMASH!"_

" _Do-Do you think they need help?" Blake asked. The rest of the students hesitated. Most of them were apprehensive of charging head-first into a battle with one of the biggest Grimm they've ever seen. They all silently opted to watch._

 _Except for one._

" _Izuku!" Pyrrha shouted as he sprinted away, "Where are you going?!"_

 **[The Best Part: 1:32]** " _ **Their bodies moved before they even had a chance to think. Almost on their own."**_

For some reason, he remembered words that...someone had spoken to him. It was lost to him, who exactly it was...but he could still hear the words. " **I'm sorry, Izuku!"** He felt warm arms envelope him, " **I...I wish things were different!"**

He clutched his heart. For some reason, those words struck him, and he...didn't know why. His life in Remnant was peaceful, and once it was discovered he had a Semblance, he persevered...so why? Why was there a...pain in his heart? He bent over as emotions flooded over his body. He couldn't contain it anymore...his eyes welling up with tears as those words resounded in his mind…

" _ **Today, that's what happened to you."**_

The words that Izuku heard...the words that he would strive off of his entire life from here on out…

His path to becoming a huntsman...those words confirmed his dreams.

 **[1:55]** " _ **Young man...you too can become a Hero."**_

The dam broke as Izuku's tears became fountains of a thousand emotions. With one hand on his heart and another placed on the ground, it was as if he was silently thanking all of the people who were cheering for him.

"Izuku…" Those warm arms were of his sister, Ruby, who was helping him stand despite his muscles not allowing him to. "You've come so far…" _From a frail boy in the snow to a student in Beacon..._ Even she tried to hold back the tears. "Let's become huntsmen together, alright?"

"Y-Yeah…" He pulled his sister into a hug. He didn't know what else to do with these feelings that...came out of nowhere. "Thank you, Aneki..." He said to his sister, but also to...that voice. To whatever, whomever was speaking in his mind...despite not knowing who they were, he couldn't thank them enough.

"My my…" Ozpin fixed his glasses as he watched Team RWBY and INPT surround Izuku, his sisters helping him up after his dazed crying.

"He is definitely something." Glynda muttered to Ozpin.

"Indeed…" Ozpin looked up at the new teams that he had assembled, but most notably Teams RWBY and INPT. _Both have strong leaders and powerful fighters...I'll have to keep an eye on them._

He gave a small smile in the direction of Izuku, who was now laughing with Ruby as he wiped the tears from his eyes. From what he deduced from his and his teammates' performance in the Emerald Forest, he deduced they would be useful in the fight for Remnant. "This is...certainly shaping up to be an interesting year." **[End of song]**

* * *

 **See why I really enjoyed this chapter?**

 **I'm not a good writer, I'm decent at best. But I'm proud of this. I'm not going to say it's good, that's for the reader to decide.**

 **So...Izuku just smashed a Nevermore into near-oblivion. He didn't go very high on this percentage (if you ask me he only went maybe 20-25%), so Ruby was the one to finish it off. The reason why I did this is 1.) I don't want Deku to be Super OP, and 2.) I wanted to show more of their chemistry as a team. They're brother and sister a few months apart in age, so of course they'd have really strong dynamics.**

 **Plus they're both introverted awkward dorks.**

 **Before all that however, is Todoroki. Yes, he did almost use it. Will ever get to using it? Answer is: Yes. But not for a LONG while. The story behind Shoto's left side is probably as bad if not worse that his canon counterpart. I did hint at it a little, but you'll get a lot more backstory on it soon. Like RWBY and like the first half of MHA Season 1, I want to flesh out the main characters to a sufficient point before the plot kicks in.**

 **Team INPT (Independent). Yeah, it's kind of a dumb acronym, but it's the best I could come up with. Not only does it play on the American-inspired One For All superpower and _My Hero_ in general, but it also replaces the J and R. Izuku replaced Jaune, Shoto replaced Ren. (INPT even uses Todoroki's last name, like Ren. ( _Lie_ Ren, _Shoto_ Todoroki)**

 **Oh yeah, almost forgot.**

 **I said that Jaune and Ren aren't _present_ , but that doesn't mean they are out of the story as a whole. I will say that Ren is in the story and will appear soon (therefore any doubt as to why Nora is alive should end), but he'll be taking on a different role in the story. **

**Jaune, on the other hand, I am hesitant on whether to include him. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But Ren is, 100%.**

 **Besides that...the ending of this chapter was my favorite to write. It brought back memories of Episode 2, and I LOVE episode two. Some of the best character development I've seen in any anime...ever. Hopefully you thought the same.**

 **I'll see you next week!**

 **(PM or review if you have any questions)**


	8. A Regular Day (Part I)

**This one is...a little unorthodox?**

 **The next two chapters, _A Regular Day_ parts one and two, I both wrote without any episode to base the premise on. If you look at the chapters I've written so far, it's become obvious that I change elements of existing chapters of RWBY and add in MHA elements: Todoroki's prologue was Weiss' Volume 5 trailer, Deku's prologue was Yang's flashback story to Blake, the first chapter was Yang's Volume 5 trailer, and so on.**

 **These are different, mostly because the chapters that come after Players and Pieces in RWBY are focused on Ruby and Weiss, whom everyone who reads this story already know and get their character development, so I knew rehashing that here would not only be lesser quality but also lazy and boring, even if I replaced Ruby with Deku and Weiss with Shoto, or something.**

 **I didn't want that. So instead, I did as follows. The kids are at Beacon, and the storyline for this chapter and the next are mostly original.**

 **Please review if you have any questions about it. This is my first time going off the rails on a long storyline like this, so I'd like feedback, negative or positive.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Edit: OMG I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT LINE BREAK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PARAGRAPH I AM SO SORRY IT'S GONE NOW**

* * *

Chapter 6- A Regular Day, Part I

"Finally...we made it."

"Yup, we did! You excited, bro?"

"Y-Yeah...I'm just having a hard time processing it all."

With their luggages in hand and eyes wide open at the sight of the giant building that stood over them like a _Beacon_ in the sky, the members of Teams RWBY and INPT all looked on at the place they'd have to live in for the next four years. Looking amongst themselves, they realized they'd be living with _each other_ as well.

Initiation was a success. Ozpin had given them a post-ceremony talk in his office and told all of them of what to actually expect at Beacon. Since they had all scored the highest in the Emerald Forest out of all of the first-years, they'd be treated as Honors students in regular schools: Higher level education, and most notably, combat training, not only amongst themselves, but against Grimm.

"Consider yourselves all second-years in this Academy," Ozpin said, "I expect nothing less than outstanding things from each of you." Afterwards, he handed them the bell schedules and a map of Beacon's classes, then promptly dismissed them.

"Thank gosh he gave us these maps," Izuku said as he looked at all of the classes he'd be attending, "otherwise I'm pretty sure I'd be lost within five minutes…" _Okay, I have General Studies for my first class, then it's Math, Modern Literature, Social Science, then-_

"Wait, seriously?" Yang ripped the map and schedule right out of Izuku's hand before he could even say, "Wait!". "We haven't even gotten into our rooms yet and you're _already_ worrying about school? This is like, the only eight hours of our lives where we can relax, chill~!" Deku just gave a sheepish grin. What else could he say? He liked staying ahead of things.

"Whelp," Ruby took the front of the pack again, like she always seemed to like to do. "How about we head in? It's getting late."

* * *

The first day at any new place is always unusual. Whether it be moving into a new home, going to a foreign Kingdom, or in the Students of Beacon's case...living in Beacon. And since they had to put their lives on the line as they traversed one of the most dangerous forests in the whole Kingdom of Vale, it was pretty obvious to say the kids needed their rest.

They had 200 square feet. Professor Ozpin was really spoiling them, huh?

R: "OH MY GOSH IT'S HUGE!"

Y: "That's what-"

W: "Don't you dare."

B: "Real mature, guys."

Team RWBY had no issues getting their luggage out and sorted...about halfway into it. Then they soon realized that maybe 200 square feet wasn't enough, as their beds literally couldn't fit anywhere and were piled on top of each other in the center of the room like they were about to be burned and sacrificed to the gods.

"...Bunks?" Ruby suggested. She's always loved bunks; ever since Yang and Ruby had to live in the same room so Deku had his own, she was obsessed with the idea of two mattresses vertically put together. Plus, she always preferred the top.

"Terrible idea." Weiss retorted as one of the pillows on a bed fell right to her feet, "We don't even have the resources to make bunks!"

"Yeah we do." Yang gestured to the blankets, ropes, nails and hammer that lay on the ground by the bathroom. Weiss wasn't even 100% sure Yang brought ropes or nails in the first place, but…

"We could also use some of my already-read books as a brace." Blake suggested. Weiss sighed. Clearly she wasn't going to win this argument, so she played along with them.

Within an hour, they had done it. Two beds comfortably sitting in between bookshelves, desks and chairs while one bed precariously hung over one with thick ropes and a blanket as if it was a pillow fort while the other stood more evenly on a multitude of books that barely prevented it from falling. It was one of the weirdest things Weiss had ever had the, ahem, _luxury_ of doing.

She looked at the clock. It was already 10. "Okay, as fun as _that_ was, we should probably sleep."

"I call the dangerous one!" Ruby was already in her pajamas and jumped right onto it, shaking the bed and causing the ceiling to bow ever so slightly at the new weight being pressed on the bed. Weiss regretted helping Ruby make that.

"Of course you d-wait, how are all of you already in pajamas?!" It was as if she was awoken from a trance as she saw all of her future teammates getting into bed while she stood there, still in her combat gear.

"You were staring at the beds in disbelief for so long we kind of just got ready before you," Yang smirked as she pulled up her blanket, "Better get some rest, _ice princess._ "

 _Ice Princess_ gave an exacerbated groan as she pulled out a toothbrush and her night clothes. "Oh, I am _so_ going to enjoy living with all of you…"

"You really mean that?" Ruby asked.

Weiss scoffed. "It's still a toss up."

* * *

I: "Well, I guess it'll be like this for the next four years, huh?"

T: "Seems like it."

N: "Ohmygoshohmygosh I can't believe I have roommates! This is like, the _best_ day ever! I have boy roommates too! Which I'm still trying to decide is a good or bad thing…"

P: "It's good, Nora. We're all a team! Regardless of gender, Ozpin put us together to see how we can get along working together as both colleagues and huntsmen. Personally, I am honored."

INPT had a much easier time that RWBY had. Since they knew how to manage their space a lot better and the members all brought relatively small luggages, fitting their beds was a piece of cake: girls on one end, and boys on the other, desks in the middle.

However, despite everyone falling asleep rather early, one team member was sifting through a history book, as if idly searching for something important…

" _So clench your buttcheeks, kid...and yell this, from the depths of your heart! SMASH!"_

 _Where have I heard that before?...Smash?! What does that even mean? And how come I always have...that instinct to say it whenever I use my Semblance?_ He searched through every nook and cranny of that book and found nothing. He then switched to his scroll (another item Ozpin gave out to the students), and typed in the words "Types of Semblances" into the search bar.

Ultimately, Semblances fall under two distinct types: Emitter and Enhancer. Emitters either give off material, whether it be a substance, a form of Aura, an area-of-effect, etc. Weiss, Pyrrha and Todoroki seemed to fall into this category. Enhancers have Semblances that boost their normal abilities and/or Aura. Ruby and Yang obviously fell into this one (Ruby's fast and Yang, well...throws tantrums for power). However, since Nora and Blake had never revealed their Semblance to him, he obviously couldn't make a decision about them.

 _Well, that's great!_ He thought, _If all my Semblance does is increase my attack potency and speed and durability, it should be an enhancer-type, right?_

He paused as his breath hitched. There was something else about it. Something else he couldn't place about his Semblance…

 _One person cultivates the power…_

There it was again. That unknown, mysterious thought lodged itself in his mind again. _What the heck does it mean?...It all started when I first got my semblance, but I never...I never could figure out their origin._

 _And they pass it on. Then, the next person cultivates it and passes it on…_

Izuku shook his head in frustration. _Who's speaking in my mind, right now?! Am I going crazy? What...what's happening?_

 _It is called...One For-_

"Rose."

"AH!" Deku hysterically jumped off his chair and crashed to the floor from surprise. A hand covered his mouth before he could talk about how he had the living daylight scared out of him by- "Terderruki…!" His voice was muffled by the Schnee's palm.

"You almost woke our teammates up. Calm down." He slowly released his hand and gestured to Nora and Pyrrha. The latter was sleeping soundly, but the former was making odd kissing noises and was snoring rather loudly. _Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little, but…_

He was getting ready to doze off as well, but he couldn't help but notice that Izuku was sifting through book after book into the late hours of the night. _Why are you reading a history book this late?_ He thought. _Surely not to get ahead...we just got here._

Todoroki's patience ran thin when he saw Deku pull out his scroll. When he realized the boy's brow was furrowed in full concentration, he knew something was up. _It's not really my style to butt into other's business, but…_

* * *

 _Three years ago…_

"Alright, I will be pitting you two against my summons. Weiss, you will go first. I know this is the first time using Myrtenaster in combat, but expect no mercy from them. You must be diligent and aggressive on the battlefield, while keeping a cool head."

"Okay...and...go."

Weiss got through 3 Boarbatusks before being overrun and asking for Winter to dispel them. Cuts and bruises all through her body, and tears in her combat dress, as well as he ponytail being wild from the Grimm's attacks. "Not bad for a first try," Winter said, "but your posture is all sloppy. When I come back next year, I expect you to last longer. Todoroki, you're next."

When the Boarbatusks charged him, they were engulfed by a wave of pure blue ice. It was over before it even began. Winter even tried summoning Beowolves-to the same outcome. No matter what she threw at him, Todoroki never broke composure and defeated his enemies in the space of a second, which was strongly contrary to his sister.

After ten full, arduous and merciless minutes of combat, Todoroki finally gave in when he felt his skin grow too cold. Winter sighed. "You're a natural prodigy, Todoroki. Forty-three Grimm within ten minutes. You don't even have a weapon." Todoroki didn't even show a glimpse of pride in his abilities, to Winter's relief. The last thing she wanted was one of her siblings being cocky...oh wait, _Whitley._

"What's the bad part?" He asked monotonously.

"Well, that Semblance of yours, while powerful, is affecting your body temperature too much. You're good with quick, relentless bursts, but not with long-lasting fights." She closed her eyes and took a breath. For some reason, she already knew what Todoroki was going to say to her next anecdote, "That _is_ , unless, you balance out your body heat by using-"

"No." Shoto ground his teeth at the mere thought. "No way."

She sighed, opening her eyes with a sympathetic look to her brother. "I figured as much…" Winter turned promptly towards the manor and semi-marched towards it. Todoroki took notice. _I guess she's accustomed to the military life at this point…_

"Come on, you two. Supper should be ready in the dining hall."

"Okay." He started briskly following his sister to get inside the heated Manor as quickly as possible; with his body reaching low temperatures as well as winter weather outside, him getting hypothermia was a real possibility. He'd have to take a hot shower when he got in. However, he had noticed that one person wasn't following them. "Weiss? Are you coming?"

Weiss, although looking cold and battered, was just standing there in the falling snow and a breezy wind. Her Myrtenaster was clipped to her dress, but she seemed as if she wasn't done fighting. Her eyes were lowered to the ground, not facing her brother and looking very...unnatural to him. "Are you...alright?"

"I'm fine." She bluntly stated, shouldering her brother out of the way as she made her way to Winter. "Let's get washed up, I'm hungry."

 _That's...it?_ Todoroki narrowed his eyes. _That can't be everything…_

It wasn't. He knew that for a fact. "Weiss." The Schnee stopped abruptly. Winter was already inside, unknowing of what they were about to say. Todoroki hesitated as he struggled to get the next words out of his mouth.

" _It's a hero's job to meddle in places they don't belong!"_

 _That stupid voice again..._ Todoroki grimaced. _Stop bothering me!_

" _Where...they don't...belong."_

His eyes widened. Maybe it was actually trying to tell him something? _I'll take advantage of it, then._ "Weiss, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" She was practically shouting at this point. "Nothing's wrong... _at all._ " She marched to the front and and closed it shut-leaving Todoroki in the cold by himself.

* * *

" _Meddle in places they don't belong."_ That voice has always been in his mind ever since that day. After Winter had trained the two of them three years ago, Weiss had grown distant to him. While she could still hold conversations with him, she preferred spending time with others rather than him. Todoroki chalked it up to her teenager-y behavior, but considering the fact that her turn was so sudden, he wasn't sure anymore.

After training session after training session with Winter, he had finally realized it: Weiss was jealous of Todoroki's power.

He sighed. That thought had resurfaced now, of all times? _Those words keep haunting me...I don't even know where it came from…_

 _It doesn't matter now. The problem's right in front of me._ "Rose."

"AGH!" He wasn't expecting him to jump off his chair and smack his bottom onto the wood. He never laughed at happenstances like that...if anything, he was mildly concerned. Before the boy could scream any louder, he covered his mouth. "Terderruki...!"

"You almost woke our teammates up. Calm down."

Izuku moved his hand out of way and whispered this time, "Who's fault is that, now?" Clearly he was salty, but not angry at him in any way. It was his fault he had been up this late, anyways. Looking at the clock, it was past ten. Time had slipped past him when he was searching for...that…

"What's bothering you?" The Schnee asked. Izuku froze as Todoroki's words slipped into his mind. _Should I tell him?...Would he even believe me?..._

" _Clench your buttcheeks…" Well, not that, obviously…_

" _You can become a hero!" Should I really tell him?..._

" _Your body moved before you had a chance to think…" Maybe I shouldn't…_

" _ **I'm going to come find you. Just watch me."**_

Izuku's eyes widened and his posture straightened like a pencil. _That dream I had a year ago...how could I have forgotten that?!_

"Well?" The white-redhead was losing patience. Deku was contemplating for a full minute at this point, and in his perspective it was as if Izuku was trying to put together an excuse. "If you're not going to answer, you're wasting my time." He turned towards his bed, his curiosity fizzling out like a small candle in a rainstorm. "Just get some rest. Apparently class is early tomorrow morning."

"..." _I have to. I can't just keep this a secret!_ "W-Wait!" His voice was noticeably loud, and he immediately covered his mouth out of embarrassment. Nora's snoring hitched in response. Todoroki had stopped right at his bedside, his head half-turned. He had gotten his curiosity back, at least. "H-Have you…"

"...Have you ever experienced any...odd memories, before?"

* * *

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The 6:30 alarm went off. Weiss stretched her arms and legs with a yawn. The sun was nearly up, and the birds had just started chirping and singing outside their closed window. For the Schnee heiress, it was the perfect time of day to just go outside and enjoy nature. It was never like this during any other time other than Summer in Atlas, so it was a time she always enjoyed. The Snow and Ice? It had grown numb to her, and not _just_ because it made her legs feel cold.

Unfortunately, her early-morning rise was anything but early, as when he sat up she already saw Ruby putting on her cape and strapping on Crescent Rose to her combat skirt in front of her. "R-Ruby?..."

"Oh, _now_ you're awake!" Yang's voice said to her immediate left. Turning her head, Yang's posture was that of a scornful sister, and her eyes were shifting between tranquil lilac and fiery red. "We tried to wake you up for half an hour at this point! Y'know, for a _Ice_ Princess you sleep like a rock."

"Hey!" Weiss was off her bed and up in Yang's face before she could even blink. There was _no_ way this blonde chick was going to insult her title! "I'll have you know that _dignified_ people need their beauty rest. Unlike you! Look at those bags!" She pointed at the busty blonde's eyebags, which were actually rather dark. "What did _you_ get last night? Like, five hours, Ms. Blonde-locks?"

"Don't you _dare_ make fun of _my_ hair!" Now Yang's eyes were fully scarlet, but Weiss wasn't backing down despite them eyeing each other down. "Not when yours _literally_ looks like bedhead right now! God, first one asleep, last one awake! We were even in bed before you! What is _wrong with-_ "

"Um, guys?" Blake interjected, not being able to focus on _Ninjas of Love: The Strongest Katana_ anymore, which was a very hard thing to accomplish as her eyes were usually very glued to the...pictures. "You do realize the first period is at 7:00, right?" She pointed at the clock. 6:30.

Weiss had less than thirty minutes to get ready. "Crap…" She receded her confidence. Clearly, she was wasting her time and anything she said would just be disproved because, well, she isn't in her combat gear.

"Ya better get ready." Yang gave a cocky smirk, knowing she had won. With a "Screw off!" And a slammed door, Weiss was in the bathroom away from her teammates.

The three of them all simultaneously gave a heavy sigh. "Jeez…" Ruby made sure her boots were strapped and her Dust was in order before murmuring, "She's probably going to make us late…"

"Well, I guess two of us can go early," Blake suggested. "One of us should wait for Weiss though. Who volunteers?"

"..." Yang and Ruby didn't say a word. It was clear they didn't want to deal with that... _thing_ in the bathroom.

The shower turned on in the bathroom. "Ugh, fine...I'll stay." Blake picked her book back up. "I'll see you two there."

* * *

"I wonder why the first class is this early…" Izuku muttered to himself as he strapped on one of his boots. Unlike Team RWBY, INPT was already fully ready, thanks to Pyrrha's strict timing and knowledge of the schedule, as well as the team's overall diligence. Also Todoroki dragging along Nora.

Izuku stood up after tying his last boot. Nora and Todoroki were already down the hall and having a really strange one-sided conversation regarding turtles, while Pyrrha waited for him at the door. "Do you think all school days are this early?" He asked.

Pyrrha shook her head, "I checked the bell schedule, and 1st Period usually begins at 9:00. This must be exclusively for the first day."

"Strange...I wonder, what is this all about?" He walked through the doorway and Pyrrha began to walk ahead of him. Before he knew it he was stuck. Todoroki's white and red hair were obvious at the end of the hall, and he found himself staring at it. _I can't believe...last night, that we-_

"Izuku?" Pyrrha typical soothing voice broke his trance. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah!" He instinctively pointed towards RWBY's dorm. "I-I'm gonna check on my sisters!" He ran towards the door and opened it rather aggressively. Then he paused. And there was silence for a good while.

Pyrrha was about to ask what was wrong, only to be met by two simultaneous screams that echoed through the halls. The entire dormitory could hear it, and even Todoroki was phased by it, his attention off of Nora's speech about shelled reptiles and onto...that horrifying screech. He knew what that scream was instantly. "Weiss…"

Deku fell backwards and against the door to his own dorm, his arms up in defense and desperation for survival. His eyes screamed for mercy and emitted a clear aura of "OH GOD I'M GOING TO DIE!" He closed his eyes, but the image was still clear in his mind.

A sigh marked Blake's exit. She had had enough of these shenanigans. She hadn't even gotten to the good parts of her book yet! "They're already outside." She said passively to Izuku, which she wasn't sure if he even heard her, let alone processed that information. She shrugged and kept walking as RWBY's door slammed shut.

As she passed Pyrrha, the redheaded warrior opened her mouth to ask what the _hell_ had just happened, Blake cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say. "Weiss just got out of the shower."

"Oh." Pyrrha said, the message slowly beginning to sink in. " _Oh."_ She watched as Izuku struggle to get to his feet, and once he did he _booked it_ ; booked it faster than Blake could _actually_ read. Green lightning flashed around him as he pushed Full Cowl to the limit to get him out of the build _as fast as possible._ He didn't even use the elevator.

A few minutes later, Pyrrha still found herself standing there in shock, despite all of her teammates and colleagues already long gone. Weiss stepped out of the dorm, _finally,_ her hair slightly damp and her clothes noticeably hastily put on. Myrtenaster was unsheathed, which was very disconcerting for the redheaded huntress. "Um...I'm sorry?"

Weiss sighed. She had met Pyrrha in the locker room before the Initiation, to her very pleasant surprise. She was an extremely famous warrior known throughout the Four Kingdoms. Her going to Beacon Academy was no surprise, but still. Having the most prestigious huntress-to-be in her own Class? It was the circumstance of a lifetime!

It still didn't take away much from the fact that... _that_ had happened. "As long as I get to strangle his lights out at the end of the day, I'm fine." She gave a confident smile, which was both out-of-character for her, considering what happened, and a little scary for Pyrrha. "Let's go, already." She walked down the hall and past Pyrrha, who was automatically inclined to follow her. _Still, though...I wonder why we had to wake up early in the first place?_

* * *

" **What? A Semblance assessment test?"**

"Indeed!" A man with messy green hair and round, thick glasses said rather quickly, "Inorderforustoensureyoursuccessin thisschoolwemustseewhatyourSemblancesareandhowusefultheyaretocombatGrimm. ThisisaplacetomakeHuntsmenandHuntresses, afterall."

Dr. Oobleck's speech would have been profound...if the class had any idea of what he was saying.

"Jeez…" Ruby whispered into Deku's ear, "He talks almost as fast as you mutter!"

"Hey! That's...true…" The Teams present in this first class happened to be INPT, RWBY and CRDL, the three first-year teams that scored the highest average in the Emerald Forest Initiation. The three teams were trying to figure out exactly why they had to wake up hours earlier before the rest of the students, and it turns out Ozpin and his teachers have...a special test for the twelve of them.

Eventually Oobleck's fast-paced talk was silenced by the other spectacle-wearing man who also happened to be the Headmaster, who, thank gosh, spoke a lot slower and clearer.

"Today we want to see how your Semblances can be used both physical assessments, as well as Grimm combat. We have five categories: the 300-meter dash, standing long jump, ball throw, long distance run, and of course...Grimm training."

Oobleck straightened his glasses, now speaking a little slower. "We have prepared a Grimm which is in captivity right now. In that test, you will be graded on the speed of the kill, the effectiveness of the kill, and the use of your Semblance."

"What's the species of Grimm you chose, Doctor?" Weiss inquired. "I assume they'd be tougher than the ones at Initiation?"

The green-haired doctor gave en eerily evil smile, sending waves of uncertainty through the first-years. "That will remain as a surprise."

Izuku took a breath. While this first class does seem a little taxing, especially on the first day, it was nothing compared to their Initiation. _I'll do fine..._ he thought to himself. Looking around, his fellow teammates either had a calm composure, or a cocky smirk on their face as if they were saying, "I got this."

"First test: The 300-meter dash." Ozpin took a step aside to reveal a long, narrow strip of track that stretched, well, exactly three-hundred meters. It was split in the middle, made to test two students at once. "Who would like to go first?" Professor Port, a rather, _portly_ fellow with an equally portly moustache was at the end of the track with a stopwatch. It appeared he would be keeping everyone's scores.

Instantly, Ruby shot her hand up in the air. "I'll go, Professor!" Her determination and cocky grin was something her classmates took into account. Since her Semblance was _Speed_ , this was _literally_ her environment. There was no way she could lose. She made her way to the track, putting her feet on the starting blocks and preparing to literally blow away the competition.

"Anyone else?" Ozpin looked upon the group. Every single person decided against getting horribly embarrassed. CRDL, the remaining members of RWBY, and even NPT.

Except for the I. His hand slowly rose into the air, shaking with fear of being the first. "I-I'll do it." CRDL didn't seem to care, only rolling their eyes, but RWBY and INPT tried to get him to stop.

"Hey, uhm...bad idea, Deku." Yang looked at Deku. Little naive Deku that she practically smothered in her safety. Despite him being capable, and Yang acknowledging that, he was about to race their sister. The same sister that ran around the entire campus of Signal five times in the space of a minute when she was on a sugar-rush. The same sister that destroyed both of them in their occasional sibling-rivalry races. _Honestly, what is he thinking?!_ "You do realize how fast Ruby is, right?"

"Hate to admit it, but you're actually going to be destroyed." Blake muttered.

"Just let her run by herself, Izuku!" Nora shouted.

"I'd rather not." Izuku shook his head. Every time, Ruby beat him whenever they raced. Not that he was _expecting_ to win, but he always tried. Still, a 0-9 win-loss ratio over the course of their races wasn't very promising, but he couldn't let that distract him. _I don't want to be 0-10...that'd be really embarrassing..._

When he put his feet on the starting block, he started to realize the mistake he just made. "Ya sure about this, Deku?" Ruby asked, a hint of pity in her voice. "You do know how the last times went, right?"

"I'm aware." Izuku's eyebrows furrowed as all he looked at was the track. "I just have something to prove." He summoned his Semblance, the power flowing into his bloodstream and heating his muscles. Viridescent lightning coiled around his arms and legs, a phenomenon that Ruby took notice of with confusion.

"The heck?" Ruby brought up a finger and poked a spark from Izuku's Semblance, and got exactly what he'd expected. "Ow~!"

"Well, you asked for that one..."

"W-What even is that, anyways?" Ruby asked with a worried expression on her face. _If this is somehow a secret thing he created that'll make Deku win, I swear..._ "This is nothing like your Semblance..."

"Hm." Deku gave a cocky smirk. His competitive side started to take over, and when it did he didn't like to lose (Even if he did a lot from having two older sisters). "That's right, I never told you about this, huh?" He braced his body even more by sharpening his posture on the starting block.

"And…" Ozpin nodded at Professor Port, fixed his glasses and…"go."

"Five percent...Full Cowl."

"Full wha-AH!"

The blast of wind that shot backwards from the both of them staggered the teachers and students. Ruby and Deku zoomed down the runway, one slightly sooner than the other, breaking twenty meters within the space of an eye-blink.

"W-What the heck?!" Yang blocked the wind with her arms, trying to get a good look of the two of them as they blazed through the track. "I don't remember Deku being this...this fast!"

"This is insane!" Weiss almost lost her footing and was forced to stab Myrtenaster into the ground to keep her body upright. "They don't know when to hold back, for gosh sakes!"

"Actually, one of them obviously is." Blake said, being one of the few who managed to stay calm about the situation despite the two creating makeshift hurricanes behind them. She noticed it the moment the two took off, and realized it as soon as Ruby and Izuku started running: the match was already decided.

"It seems so." Todoroki summoned a wall of ice behind him to prevent him from being pushed back, and kept his footing rather well. "Look at them. Izuku's struggling, while Ruby-"

"-Isn't at all." Ozpin sipped from his morning coffee. _In fact, it looks like she's actually having fun._

"Gr…" Izuku's muscles strained to stay in control, pushing the barrier of 5%. Yes, he was fast. But compared to Ruby's Semblance it was like comparing a tortoise to a hare. He looked to his left, and Ruby was seemingly _jogging_ , a look of enjoyment on her face as Izuku looked like he hadn't used the bathroom in a week, a la strained, constipated, and desperate. He was trying his best, while, Ruby probably wasn't even putting in much effort. _Dang it! Why can't I go higher?!_

"Well, I will admit that you have gotten a lot better, Deku." Ruby smirked as they crossed 50 meters. "But not fast enough!"

Deku growled inwardly. He had finally cracked the code to his Semblance-a technique that didn't strain his body that much and gave him balanced superhuman abilities...but he was still far behind his sister.

" _ **Remember…"**_ It was a voice that sounded exactly like his...

 _Another one?! Why do these things keep popping up?!_

" _ **Remember the egg in the microwave!"**_ _W-What?!_ He couldn't remember saying that! In fact, it sounded...rather dumb? _Am I like, hungry, or somethi-_

" _ **Don't let the power explode. Keep a calm mind, and course it throughout your whole body!"**_ Those words struck a chord with him. Time seemed to slow as he contemplated that meaning. _It sounds like the first time Taiyang taught me how to use my Semblance properly!_

* * *

"Don't just release that power in bursts. Your body isn't accustomed to that, while Yang's is. Focus on controlling it."

"O-Okay…I'll try!"

For the next few days, Deku trained late at night while his sisters slept in the house. Out in the cold autumn air, with the brown and red leaves falling from above, Izuku tried his hardest to spread his Semblance throughout his body by using it to jump from tree to tree.

Most of his attempts ended up with a sore bottom as his landed on his butt when he fell, but after days and hours upon hours of training...

He surprised himself when he kicked off of the dry dirt. Usually when he activated his Semblance he'd bust through the ground and create a small crater, but now it was more like a hard push rather than an explosive takeoff. He flew up the tree trunk, grabbing onto a thick branch.

Izuku smiled brightly. _I...I did it!_ Deku looked down. He was dangerously high: maybe 4-5 stories high. If he dropped, he ran the risk of either breaking or spraining something. "C-Crap! I-I-I'm gonna fall!" He thought about calling out to Taiyang or Ruby, but quickly realized _It's like, 2 AM...if I call for help, they might reprimand me for staying up this late..._ He grit his teeth. _Not good..._

He looked up at the sound of a _crack_. The branch he was holding on to? It was breaking. He was going to fall.

"I'M GONNA FALL!" He started flailing in the air, which only served to make the branch creak and break even more. "WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoI-"

 ** _"Oi, Izuku!"_**

 _What the heck?!_ He had weird memories pop into his head before, like when he punched the Ursa months ago, but this one was completely different than the man's voice he had heard previously...

 ** _"GRIT YOUR TEETH!"_**

For some reason, Izuku struggled to place _who_ exactly it was, _It...it could be Yang...but, the voice, agh, I can't place a gender on the voice!_ However, he understood what it was trying to say. He did as the voice commanded and grit his teeth together.

The branch broke, and he fell with it. _No...I won't go down this easy!_

Lightning exploded around him, but not from the sky; it seemed as if it was emitting from himself! _W-What is this?...Is this what Dad was talking about?..._ He smiled. _It must be._ He placed his feet on the trunk and crouched in mid-air, then-

 ** _"5%...Full Cowl!"_**

"Full Cowl, huh?" Izuku recalled himself jumping over rooftops, with that signature green glow and emerald sparks that swirled around him. "A...weird name, but that's what I'm calling it!"

"Five Percent...Full Cowl!"

* * *

He smiled. Those memories he was familiar with. _But those words..._

" _ **Don't let the power explode. Keep a calm mind, and course it throughout your whole body!"**_

 _I know what it's trying to tell me._

Breath in.

Breath out.

"SEVEN PERCENT!" The sparks around him flashed as the lightning became more erratic, wild and uncontrolled. His veins glowed orange-red for a moment, a sign that his Semblance was pulsing within his muscles with more power. He felt himself become lighter, his boots practically tapping the ground as he pushed his body further. When they got to the 100-meter mark, Deku had passed her up.

"What the heck?!" Ruby screamed from behind. Only a second had passed, and Deku was already arms-length ahead of her. "How'd you get so fast?!"

"Oh my GOSH!" Yang squealed from the start line. "GUYS! DEKU'S FASTER NOW! He might actually beat our sister!"

"But it doesn't look like he'll be able to hold it for long." Pyrrha stated, her eyes focused squarely on the race. "With Grimm, he's able to release the strain of his punches into them. With nothing to release that energy, his muscles should be in pain right about now…"

"That's true…" Nora's voice turned from excited cheering to concerned. She saw as Deku's overall posture and body language; he was pushing himself too much. "Don't kill yourself, Izuku!"

"Once again…" Ozpin couldn't help but muse at the two racing. "That boy has exceeded my expectations." _Matching a Speed Semblance? That's almost unheard of…_ He watched as the green lighting zapped Ruby, the huntress screaming in pain and shaking her hand, as well as Deku quickly saying "Sorry!" _But that Semblance...I still haven't figured that out._ It's a weird one, indeed...

 _Oh well. We have a whole school year, don't we? For now, studying it from afar is the best course of action._

One hundred-fifty meters, and Ruby finally decided to put in more effort. Her roses kicked up as she matched Deku's speed at the halfway point. "Not fast enough, bro!" Ruby started picking up speed, and now that tables turned again-Deku now the one being a whole arms-length behind. And the gap was widening _fast._

 _Crap, crap, crap, this isn't good!_ Izuku growled, as again he was behind. _This is the highest I can go...any higher and my muscles and bones will probably snap on me...already I can feel them straining to even push me this far..._ 180 meters passed now, and Ruby was only getting farther. He closed his eyes in frustration, shaking his head as they now passed 200 meters. _I need to think of something!_

His eyes opened, both literally and figuratively. _My legs, of course!_

Suddenly, he lowered Full Cowl back down to 5%. His muscles relaxed, and the lightning aura he had faded back down to a more controlled state. Ruby was now passing 250 meters- if he didn't do it now, he'd lose for sure.

"Deku!" Yang yelled from behind. "What the hell are you doing! Ruby's going to beat you! Uh, I mean: Ruby, beat him!"

"It's...fine!" Suddenly, with another inhale, he forced _all_ of his Full Cowl into his legs. He screamed, loudly, but managed to fight back the pain as the 7% coursed into _just_ his lower body. Suddenly, he was over twice as fast as he was before when he was using the standard 7%. The gap was closing as the spectators all widened their eyes at this development. Yang was jumping in excitement, as well as Nora. Todoroki and Blake stoically watched with arms crossed, Pyrrha gave her typical cheers, while Weiss was cheering for the one who didn't see her in her most vulnerable state just a few minutes ago.

"KICK HIS BUTT, RUBY!" Everyone gave her odd looks, as most of them were cheering for Deku, the clear underdog. "What? He deserves...too…"

Everyone: "No he doesn't."

270 meters, and Deku was within five meters of her. 280, then it became arms-length.

290, he had matched her and was about to pass her at the end, by a hair. _I can do this! I can actually beat her!_ His bones strained. His muscles stretched. Full Cowl electrified the air in his lungs, his breath heating up in response as his strides overtook his sister's. His eyes gave off an aggressive green glow as the viridescent lightning electrified Ruby's rose petals, scorching them and sending them hurling through the winds the two students created. Deku pushed all he had as the final inches of the race closed in on them, then-

 _Oh no..._ He felt it fade. _Full Cowl_ had strained him too much again. He felt himself shrink from car-speed to simply the speed of a regular track runner as he tripped at the 298-meter mark. His hand was outstretched as he quite literally ate the asphalt (it wasn't actually asphalt), and sadly, his fingertip was just shy of the finish line.

Ruby skidded to a halt. In reality, that race for her was like a light jog to, at the very end, a light run. She was taking it easy the whole time, and yet Deku, it seemed, had torn himself to pieces to just try and _match_ her. _It was the closest he had gotten to beating me, too_..."Izuku!" Suddenly she went from happy from her victory to concerned of her little brother's safety. She rolled him over to his backside; and other than the bloody nose, Izuku was sweating cats and dogs. And his skin was- "-Steaming?! Izuku, your skin is _steaming._ I think you need to go to the nurse."

"N-No, it's fine, Aneki…" He pushed himself to his feet as he wiped the blood from his lips. He was sore all over; in fact, he was pleasantly surprised when he found out he could still _stand_. "I can keep going...I might just...have to...take a…" He fell before the word "again". Fortunately, Ruby caught him before another one of his blood vessels popped in his nostril from ground impact. She put her fingers on his wrist, checked his breathing, and put her head on his chest for a heartbeat. Fortunately, it was all a success. She pulled him into a very tight hug- which was very concerning considering his condition. "You could have gotten yourself killed…" She whispered. ' _Kay, good. He's still alive. Just needs some medical attention..._

"Professor Port?" Ruby asked, "Can you take him?"

"Of course!" He picked up Izuku, which compared to him was like a small child. He was a lot bigger up close. "I'll take him to the nurse's office and I'm sure she'll patch him up!" He was about to walk away, but then he realized he forgot something important… "Ah, yes. Ruby, you got 11.96 seconds. Mr. Rose-if he passed-would have received 12 seconds. Congratulations to the both of you."

"Thanks!" She exclaimed. "And thanks for taking him!" Professor Port waved knowingly as he walked down to the Nurse, with Izuku over his shoulder. The boy gave a faint thumbs-up to his sister. Ruby sighed in relief, her anxiety for her brother's safety now gone. Deku was alright. _Thank gosh!_ "Now, then…" Ruby turned back towards the 300-meter track. At the very end, she could make out that some dudes from Team CRDL were going to race next. "Whelp, better head back." She stretched her legs, and _ran._

By _ran_ , I mean she totally destroyed her time on the track race. The winds were tenfold of what they were when she and her brother had both first raced, and _then_ some. The grass shot away from her like a person slicking their hair back, and the trees' leaves fluttered and tore off the branches as the more flexible trees swayed in the wind. An immensely powerful flash of wind overcame the students and Ruby rushed towards them, something they were not prepared for.

Within the _blink of an eye_ , Ruby made it back. She was winded and breathing heavier than usual, sure, but she managed to blow her previous record out of the water.

She also found most of the students had fallen over from her run, including the two students about to race. Ruby turned to the two runners, and they were giving her a look of shock and awe, as if she was some sort goddess of speed. The rest of the students looked surprised too. "Um, you all doing okay?"

"Holy..." Besides Todoroki, Pyrrha was the only one who still managed to stay afoot, but it didn't mean she wasn't astounded by the mini windstorm that the red huntress has just made. "...I guess you weren't really trying against Izuku, were you?"

"Hehe..." Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Her uncertain grin made it look as if she felt bad that she had held back against him so much, "Well...I don't want to hurt his feelings, but yeah. I was. You're all okay though, right?"

"Doing okay? DOING OKAY?!" Weiss staggered up in anger. "You got grass stains on my skirt, you dolt!"

"I-I'm sorry?" Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. It wasn't her fault she was gifted with an overpowered Semblance. "I'll...pay for it?"

 _This kid is planning on paying for this?!_ Veins appeared in the Schnee heiress's normally smooth and blemish-free skin. Her combat dress was worth more than a kid Ruby's age could earn in allowance for an entire year! "PAY FOR IT?! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THIS IS WORTH MORE THAN THAT OVERGROWN SCYTHE OF YOURS-"

"Okay, children, calm down…" Even though he was saying _children_ , he was clearly only speaking to Ms. Schnee. _I'll have to do something about that attitude later…_ "Who wants to go next? I think that Mr. Lark and Mr. Winchester would like a break, after all."

"..." Silence. It was about what he was expecting.

"Okay then. How about we take a break from the 300-meter dash for now, hm?" The whole class sighed. Thank _gosh_ they didn't have to follow up an absurd race like that. "...and do the long distance run." Ozpin smirked.

"NNNNOOOOOOOO-"

* * *

 **So yeah, here's Part One of "A Regular Day". This is the shorter half. Yay.**

 **The next one is over 10k in length. Even more yay.**

 **You may be wondering why I added HeroAca's Quirk Assessment test into RWBY, and to that I say 1.) it fits, 2.) it gave me an opportunity to add some character development, especially for Deku and Ruby.**

 **Imagine having a sibling close to you in age, doesn't matter the gender. Wouldn't you two have competitions all the time to see who's better that what? I know I did, which is why I put it here.**

 **Deku has a competitive side, we've seen that with his fights with Kacchan and Todoroki. With Ruby, that eagerness to surpass his sister is cranked up to 11, so I thought it'd make sense that he'd want to race her.**

 **But, well, a Semblance that's mainly about speed versus a power that is focused on all-around slight improvement in physical attributes...in a footrace, who wins? Exactly. The only reason Ruby almost lost is because she took him too lightly, like any person would if they beat them a dozen times.**

 **Oh yeah...and the _grit your teeth_ part. That was more than just a reference to Gurren Lagann, it has a much more important aspect to the story than you can see at face-value. **

**Too bad I can't tell you yet :P.**

 **By the way, there will be no bully arc. For one, Jaune isn't here, and two, it was the worst part of Volume One. I'll be addressing it next chapter, but I won't go any further with it. Cardin's just a one-dimensional bully that I have no interest in trying to redeem. This is Deku and Shoto's story, not his.**

 **Speaking of Shoto, the next chapter will be focusing on him mostly, so if you thought I was neglecting him for Izuku and Ruby's "perfect siblinghood" I'm not. 10,000 words dedicated to him! I worked hard on it.**

 **The chapter after that will be the finale for RWBY's Volume 1, but will be the mid-season finale for this story.**

 **Oh yeah, I'm splitting this into Volumes. Like I said in the beginning, this story will be long.**

 **Hopefully. I plan not to give up on it any time soon, I've worked too hard on it.**

 **See you next week! (Er...this Saturday. Sorry for the delayed update)**

 **P.S. Whomever can do the math and figure out how fast they were going gets a cookie. A virtual cookie, I can't bake for sh*.**

 **Expect Part II next week. Thanks for reading!**


	9. A Regular Day (Part II)

**This chapter was long, as you can obviously see.**

 **Ten thousand words! And shockingly enough, I wrote it all in a day...well, to be fair it did then take me another week to tweak a few things, but that's besides the fact.**

 **One thing I want to say about this chapter is that it takes next-to-no inspiration from the Jaunedice or Forever Fall chapters. Why? Because 1.) Jaune isn't present (for now), 2.) The bully arc sucks, and 3.) Even if I wanted to do it I know it wouldn't be good because the replacement for Jaune is Deku and, well, anyone who would try to bully him would get their teeth kicked in by Ruby and Yang so...yeah.**

 **After this is the end of Volume 1. I know, 8 chapters, exactly half the length of what RWBY's was. I can guarantee that Volume 2 won't be as quickly paced because they're longer and stuff.**

 **This chapter tells a lot: character development. plot progression, etc. I worked long and hard on it (in that one day I'm pretty sure I didn't take my eyes off the screen for like ten hours) so please enjoy.**

 **P.S. 25 m/s is apparently how fast they ran, which is roughly 56 miles per hour. Pretty fast. Damn.**

 **Also using that logic Ruby was faster than sound during her run back to the start line, so even more damn!**

* * *

Chapter 7- A Regular Day, Part II

"Izuku, it's your turn."

The voice caused his back to stiffen like a pencil. The youngest Rose jerked his head up. The last thing he remembered seeing was the ground as his face dug into it after he raced his sister, but now...he was definitely somewhere else entirely.

This phenomenon has been happening to him...too much, at this point. So much that it couldn't be a coincidence anymore. It was like his subconscious was trying to tell him something, like it was screaming at him to remember something that _should_ be remembered...but all he could do was grasp at straws.

He never remembered the details that these "visions" had for him. Like, for example, when he first discovered his Semblance. All he remembered was he blacked out, dreamed about...something, then woke up in his bed hours later. The events that occurred during said dream were fuzzy for him to the point of nonexistence.

He had a feeling this one was going to be no different. He looked down, and found himself holding a softball of some kind, with dark blue panels etched into the leather. He assumed it was some sort of electronic sensor, maybe to record the distance of the throw?

"Toss that ball as far as you can. Remember, you can use your - however you please. Now hurry up, I'm running out of patience."

Izuku blinked. There was clearly a word missing in that sentence. He turned to address the person who was talking to him. "Hey, can you repeat tha-"

Nothing. There was no one behind him. _B-But that voice...it was obviously behind me! What's the heck's going on?..._

"Just throw the ball already, _Deku._ " A boy's voice mocked behind him, "Let's see how useless you really are. Hell, I'm pretty sure -'s gonna expel you on the spot." He didn't know why, but...that voice, it seemed strangely familiar as well.

And it infuriated him that he couldn't recall from where, or rather, _who_ it was from.

"Don't say that, -! Give Deku a chance! C'mon! You can do it!" It was a girl's voice, and...for some reason, catharsis filled his mind. He took a deep breath. Something told him that if he didn't throw that ball, this dream wouldn't end.

He got into a pitcher stance. He had seen some kids at an elementary school play a field game called "baseball", where they would hit a ball with a smooth tree branch and run around things they called "bases" until they made it back to where they started. It was an interesting concept, and Izuku wondered why such a fascinating game like that didn't make it past the recesses of schools.

Izuku breathed deeply, and slowly let Full Cowl envelop his body. The lower half wasn't needed for a throw, so he focused the power above his waist, through mainly his arms and upper torso. "5%..." He pulled back his arm. "SMASH!"

Multiple voices behind him gasped as they watched the ball get _hammered_ into the sky. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Izuku may have thrown that ball farther than a cannon launching a cannonball. After a few seconds, he heard a beeping noise.

"Three-hundred meters. Exactly."

* * *

"Ruby, so do you wanna tell me how the _hell_ you got across THREE HUNDRED METERS in the span of a blink?"

"Um...plenty of cardio?"

"Bull. First of all, all you do is eat cookies all day, second, I haven't seen your Semblance go _that_ fast. Well, yeah, I could never keep up with it, but if Mr. Smartass over on Izuku's team was doing his math correctly you were going _wayyyyy_ faster than sound!"

"Well...to be honest, I could always go that fast."

" **You WHAT?!"** Two simultaneous voices roared, causing the red huntress to fall on her bottom with a light thud.

Yang didn't help her sister up, one, because she was shocked at the fact that Ruby had _that_ much of a speed advantage over her and two, because Deku was awake. And looking rather surprised as well. "Oh my gosh you're awake!" The sunny blonde instantly embraced her brother, whom she quickly realized had probably woken up in a cold sweat and was surprised to find himself sore in a bed after blacking out...again. _Speaking of…_ "You almost killed yourself out there…"

"Eheh...sorry, about that…" Izuku chuckled lightly. What else could he say? He had a new power that he wanted to test against his sister. But considering he now knew that even _that_ wasn't enough to get _close_ to Ruby's full speed...he was at a loss.

Maybe he'll just have to accept the fact that Ruby was just too darn fast. And that his eldest sister had went from sympathetic to pissed off in about five seconds for reasons he didn't know because he was too busy spacing out and before he could even process what was going on he felt his cheekbone dig into his teeth as his head slammed against the pillow.

"Oh yeah, also: YOU ALMOST KILLED YOURSELF OUT THERE! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Deku swore his cheek was steaming from that punch. "Why couldn't you have just raced against literally _anyone else?!_ "

"I-I just couldn't help it, ok?" Izuku countered, sitting back up in his bed. The adrenaline rush from that punch had actually numbed his muscles and he felt a lot better. "I had learned a little while ago to control my Semblance properly, and then I got an opportunity to test it out! Plus, you know how competitive I can be.."

Yang scoffed, "Yeah, 'competitive' is the freaking understatement of the year. It was like you were willing to kill yourself just to prove everyone wrong…"

"Hold on just a second…" Ruby interjected as she stood up and dusted off her skirt.

"One."

"Darn it, Yang, let me talk!" Ruby stuck out her tongue before clearing her throat and continuing. "Izuku, did you just say you could control your Semblance?"

"Uhm...yeah...I've actually been able to do it for a few weeks, at this point."

" **You WHAT?!"** Suddenly Deku had a sudden case of deja vu, only he was instead on the receiving end.

"Wow, okay, it's safe to say that I'm falling behind you two…" Yang sighed. "My sister's faster than the sound coming out of my mouth and now my brother has just gotten used to the most broken Semblance known to humanity. Great."

"What did you call it again, Deku?" Ruby asked, "Was it...um…"

"Full Cowl."

Yang blinked. "Full...Cowl?"

"Yeah. Full Cowl."

There was an awkwardly long pause.

...

...

"Okay, bro, we need to have a serious talk."

"About...what?"

"About the name of your Semblance." Ruby said.

"It's literally the stupidest name for an _anything_ I've ever heard, and this is coming from the girl whose sister named a scythe after her own surname and adopted it into the family."

"I still have the paperwork."

Izuku was tempted to agree with them. I mean, _why_ did he name it Full Cowl, again? He paused for a long minute, digging through memory after memory…

Nothing. "Um...I'm sorry?" Is all he managed to choke out of his mouth.

"Anyways...yeah, that's just…*sigh*..." Yang gave an exacerbated groan.

Then followed yet another spell of awkward silence between the trio as they all tried to take in the information that had just been dropped like an Atlas-issued bomb atop them. Izuku was the first to break the silence: "So...um...why are you two here, again? Isn't the Semblance Assessment test still going on?"

"Um, bro, look at the clock." Ruby pointed to a digital alarm on a bedside table. It was 11:56 A.M., the start of lunch break. "It's been hours since the Assessment. You've been out of it for a while, just like last time."

"Oh…" Izuku blinked, and suddenly it dawned on him that Yang and Ruby weren't in their combat gear like he was. They were both in uniform, and besides their obviously differing physical appearance, clothing-wise, they were identical. The only things that stood out was Ruby's cape and her conservative full stockings and Yang's...not-so conservative stockings. "Well...how did it go?"

"Well, we all made it past the physical fitness portion rather easily, but…" Ruby explained as Yang opened the window to reveal the field that had the Assessment...was completely covered in ice.

"They had somehow managed to capture a Deathstalker and made us fight it one-on-one for two minutes each." Yang exposited as she watched the glistening ice slowly melt into the grass in the sun's heat. She even saw some of the more carefree and rebellious students slide down the glacier from some of the archways of Beacon's entryway like slides. "We had all passed, but Todoroki was the last to go."

Izuku had already pieced most of the story together in his head, but he needed confirmation. "Don't tell me he…"

"Yep."

* * *

Todoroki Schnee was _really_ starting to hate scorpions.

In reality, the small real-animal kinds were relatively small and, as long as you didn't piss it off it rarely would try to hurt you. But imagine a scorpion a hundred times larger, maybe even more, with armor thicker than Atlesian military trucks and pincers big enough to split tree trunks in two like twigs. Imagine a monster that large chasing you down in a forest, constantly slowing you down, physically wearing your stamina and causing your then soon-to-be teammate to almost die _and_ give you an existential crisis about half of yourself?

I think that was enough reason to start a hate-war against the species.

He stood there, not moving, just _glaring_ into the eyes of that abominable Grimm. It pounced, coming in with its massive claws and even more massive stinger.

He didn't even blink as he activated his Semblance at full blast, just as the tip of the hook of the stinger got within a few centimeters of his left eye. The force of the solid frost slamming into the Deathstalker's body blasted it backwards, literally careening it backwards as the glacier continued to consume it.

You know those lollipops that you find in some stores that have a scorpion on the inside? That's exactly what it looked like, only it was freezing cold ice encasing a massive Grimm that dissipated as the cold overworked its body.

Nora, Pyrrha, RWBY and CRDL all looked on in either excitement, shock, or terror. Sure, Ruby and Deku were fast, but Todoroki had just destroyed a Grimm in one blow because...he didn't like it very much?

Shoto sighed. "Every time, too elementary…" He pulled out a small capsule of Fire Dust, sprinkling it like salt over the ice on his right side, causing it to melt and bringing his body temperature up to normal.

"I had a feeling you were going to do that." Ozpin said as he narrowed his eyes at the black mist that flowed into the chilled air and placed a hand on Todoroki's left shoulder. "Strong burst attacks seem to be your strength. Just try not to overwork yourself too much with it."

"Yeah." He shrugged Ozpin's hand off and walked back to his team. Everyone had their eyes on him.

 _If it wasn't for that Grimm, then Izuku wouldn't have been in trouble._

 _And I wouldn't have almost been forced to...to...dammit!_ He grit his teeth as he pushed past his sister, who only looked at him with distant concern. Weiss didn't even consider asking him what was wrong; she knew very well what it was and knew that he'd get over it eventually...or he'd be forced to down the line by their father.

"Todoroki, is there something bothering you?" Pyrrha, being the kind-hearted yet naive person (when it comes to certain situations) she was, asked. He pushed past her as well, and began making his way back to the locker rooms.

"Just...leave me be for right now. I'll be there next period."

* * *

"So that's the story, huh…" Izuku had found the strength to stand and watched the ice melt outside with his sisters as they explained what had happened to him. "Where is he now?"

"Probably either with your team in the cafeteria or in the corner by himself." Yang said, "Either way, the way he acts is a little funky, don't you think?"

"Well…" Ruby hesitated to speak under the suddenly tense atmosphere. Despite not knowing Todoroki at all, he did save her from a fall that most likely would have mortally injured or even killed her! "I do kind of owe him one…"

"Maybe we should go talk to him." Yang suggested.

"I think it'll be better if I talk to him alone." Izuku said, "I am his teammate, after all. Besides, all three of us going to talk to him together might look a little suspicious…" Yang and Ruby both silently nodded in agreement. "Should we tell Weiss about this?"

Yang shook her head. "I wouldn't." She recalled back to the Assessment, and how Weiss had given him that distant stare…"Something tells me she already knows about what's going on with him, but just doesn't want to talk to him, for some reason."

"Okay, well…" Izuku turned towards the door and began marching out with a stern look on his face, "I guess I'm going, then."

"Hold it, Mr. Excited." Yang's voice caused him to stop.

"What?" He turned, but...he really wish he didn't.

Yang held up a boy's school uniform, complete with a belt, tie, blazer and everything. "You're gonna have t'change into this."

The thought of the belt crushing his waist and the tie choking his neck and cutting off his air supply sent red alarms running through his head. All he had worn in his life was comfortable, baggy clothes; heck, his freaking huntsman gear wasn't form-fitting at all, unlike his sisters', which obviously contoured to their bodies, for the most part. "No."

"You're going to get an out-of-uniform referral." Ruby mentioned. "C'mon, we did it! Why can't _you_ do it?"

"Because _I_ am not used to wearing freaking ties all day! Imagine a corset-but for your NECK! Do you _know_ how painful that is?!"

"Deku, I am going to say this very simply…" Yang's tone went down a pitch and in volume. The sudden change of aura coming off of her was unsettling. He gulped. "Change into this right now, in that bathroom, or I am going to _force_ you into this thing."

"G-Gotcha, Sis…"

 _Five...no, ten minutes later…_

"Ugh, my throat feels like exploding…" Deku muttered as he stepped out the bathroom. His sisters took one look at him, up and down. "W-What?"

...

...

" **BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

"What?! What is it?!"

"Bro, do you _not_ know how to tie a tie?! Why is it so short?!"

"Hey, I tried my best! Can we go now?!"

* * *

"It was the dead of night, in the dreaded Emerald Forest…"

"More like early morning."

"Me and Todoroki were surrounded on all sides by bloodthirsty Ursai…"

"Beowolves, and there were three of them. I froze them before they had a chance to react."

"Todoroki! Stop ruining my awesome stories! Yang totally gets it, right?"

The sunny blonde had suddenly broken out of her trance and blinked at the excited orangette. She was picking at her food, mainly staring at Todoroki, who was unaware of her examining him while he slurped up his cold soba.

She took a quick look around. Weiss was minding her own business at the edge of the table, calmly eating her lunch, Blake was reading a book with Pyrrha vainly trying to strike conversation with the quiet huntress, and while Nora was spouting off about a story which she wasn't sure was true or not at this point, the three siblings all sat next to each other, looking as if they were pensive or, to some, constipatingly stiff. It was only when Nora called out her name that Yang shrugged off her spaced-out state. "Huh? O-Oh, yeah…"

"See?! I told you!" Nora exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Todoroki after saying, "We _totally_ destroyed those Beowolves as a team!"

"..." Deku raised an eyebrow at that silence. Calmly and succinctly, the male Schnee picked up his empty tray and began making his way to the line. "I'm going to ask for seconds." The way he said it was rather quick, implying it was probably manufactured instead of genuine.

 _He probably wants some time away..._ Izuku narrowed his eyes. _Todoroki, what's wrong with you?_ The white-redhead made his way down the lengths of the tables, and occasionally students would glance at him with either inspired, or concerned looks.

"Woah! It's that guy who killed that Deathstalker and made a giant tundra outside!"

"What do you think happened to his face?...That scar doesn't look very pretty…" One of the girl students whispered too loudly to her friend. Todoroki turned his face to the left, away from them and hiding his scar. _I had hoped no one would bring this up, but...I guess it's always a point of conversation._

"What do you mean?!" The other girl said, surprised. He heard that too. "He still looks _hot_ , I'd definitely F."

"The hell's wrong with you?"

 _Hot._ Even though those girls meant no harm, at least he thought so, the word _hot_ echoed in his mind.

Hot.

Fire.

He internally reprimanded himself, a metaphorical slap on the wrist for thinking about that at a time like this. "I'm just getting food…" He muttered. _Don't let these idiots distract you._

"Haha! Those bunny ears make you look like a freak. Whaddya want, a _carrot_?"

"Yeah, tell 'em, Cardin!"

Todoroki made two steps past Team CRDL and their rather...reprehensible leader, who grabbed the faunus in question's ear and tugged it, causing her head to jerk. "Ow, please!" She yelped, "Stop it, that hurts!"

"That's what she said!" One of Cardin's lackeys spat. The Schnee debated whether or not he should step in, but decided against it and kept walking. _Ms. Goodwitch will probably take care of it..._ He deduced, and kept walking.

"Poor girl…" Pyrrha said with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "I can't imagine what it's like to live in a world where 80% of the population is against you…"

"I think I might have an idea." Blake said rather blankly as she flipped the page in her book. While she didn't approve of bullying at all, getting wrapped up in a stranger's business, especially something as childish as bullying, was something she didn't like getting herself into.

Still though, Weiss stopped filing her nails and raised an eyebrow at the Belladonna's suspicious comment.

"Th-That's not funny!" The Faunus cried, "Please stop it, Cardin! Leave me alone!"

"Oh yeah?" The bully tightened his grip around her rabbit ear. "And what the hell are ya gonna do about it?"

"You're different from everyone else." He said as he smirked out of sick amusement. "That makes you a target. I mean, just look at those ridiculous bunny ears! You'll _never_ be like us. Why did you even decide to become a huntress, anyways? You're a _faunus_ , those good-for-nothings can go die for all I care."

Todoroki paused. His feet stood still, still a relatively close distance from Cardin's bullying. _Th-That's what…_

 _He said to me._

* * *

A 9-year-old child hit the lacquered oak floor with a disgusting thump as their older brother backhanded them in the face. Todoroki coughed, tears coming out of his eyes as he held his cheek in response to the hard smack. "W-Whitley, stop!"

"What are you going to do?" Whitley gave a cocky smirk, fit only for the snobby. "Father clearly stated that you aren't allowed to use your...barbaric powers within the Manor. Especially that _disgusting_ left side of yours. Absolutely repugnant." He stepped towards the young Shoto, who stuck in hand up in vain as he tried to prevent Whitley from touching him, but it was all for naught. The white-haired brother grabbed Todoroki by the hair, pulling him up with his fist clenched around Shoto's crimson locks.

"I already disapproved of Weiss' want to become like Winter, but _you_ of all people wanting to become one? Well, I guess it suits a cretin like you. With that red hair and that hideous scar of yours, you just don't look like the rest of us. Father hated you the second you were brought to this door, you know, it was only because of Winter and Mother that you managed to stay here, and look where they are now. An Atlas ass-kisser, and an isolated drunk. They're both failures in my eyes, but at least _they_ managed to accomplish something." Shoto grabbed Whitley's wrist, trying to pry it off his head. It didn't budge. "Winter joined the military, and our mother, well, she managed to birth _me_ , the true heir to the Schnee throne." Whitley threw his brother aside, and Shoto hit his head against the wall with a thud.

"You good-for-nothing excuse for a _Schnee_ can go die for all I care."

* * *

Todoroki turned, his white and scarlet bangs covering his heterochromatic eyes. The faunus was still struggling in Cardin's hold, and his friends only laughed with cruel entertainment. "Wow, what a freak!" They said.

" _You're a freak."_ Whitley's repulsive voice rang in his head. He had had enough. His Semblance kicked in, the frost enveloping the area around him, then quickly shooting up towards team CRDL and the faunus. It silently traveled up the legs of the table, onto the bench, onto the tabletop, and then…

"What the hell? What is this?!" Within seconds, Cardin's arm became glued to the mahogany bench by the ice, the freezing temperatures burning into his skin. Panic started to overcome his body as he looked around for the perpetrator.

"It's funny how your cocky facade can be broken so easily when faced with an opponent much stronger than you," Todoroki stated concisely. Cardin grimaced in response, but could do nothing but wince in pain as the ice traveled up his shoulder and started enveloping his torso the closer Todoroki got to him. The white-redhead raised his right arm up to Cardin's face. "Let go of the girl, and maybe you won't get frostbite."

The leader of team CRDL begrudgingly followed Todoroki's order, and the faunus quickly darted away, wanting to get away from whatever was about to go down as quickly as possible. Todoroki lowered his hand, but…

"Now!" Cardin shouted with pained rage. His pride was on the line here, he thought. This asshole was going to _pay_. His lackeys sprung into action, their fists raised at the Schnee. Todoroki didn't even flinch, let alone look surprised. Two of them attacked from the sides, one from behind.

The two attacking on the right and behind didn't know what was coming to them. Three seconds was all it took, and Sky Lark had been immobilized from the waist down. Another second, and Russell had been stopped in his tracks, too.

Dove was the only survivor, being on Shoto's left side and away from the immediate ice barrage. He went for a right hook, one that was very televised and predictable. Todoroki ducked under, and placed his hand on the poor minion's chest, and the frost overtook his entire torso until the weight of the ice was too much and he stumbled backwards and fell.

In the end, all of Team CRDL had been defeated, embarrassed in front of all of Beacon Academy as they struggled to break free from the frost that Todoroki had shackled them in. "D-Damn...you…" Cardin growled, "Just wait until we fight with our weapons…"

"It doesn't make a difference." The Schnee rebuttaled, "Just like those bunny ears on that faunus. What you look like doesn't matter. However, what _does_ matter in this school is your capabilities as a fighter, something that you four are very lacking in." Cardin and his goons shut up after that part.

He silently picked up his empty tray and made his way to the cafeteria line again, not minding the hundreds of eyes upon him, staring in awe at the boy who had not only made multiple giant glaciers the size of airships, defeated a giant Deathstalker twice, but _also_ defeated an entire team on his own. "Now let me get some food."

"Todoroki…" Deku uttered under his breath as he watched his teammate walk away from the frozen CRDL. Like he had predicted, instead of going back into the line, he dumped whatever little food he had left into the trash, left his tray by the kitchen and walked out the door. _He wasn't getting seconds. He was leaving…!_

"Izuku!" Ruby, who was also watching the incident, stood up to chase after her brother only for Deku to hold up his hand as a sign of "It's okay, don't follow me."

"I'll be back in a few minutes!" He shouted, jumping over Team CRDL and racing out the door with Full Cowl's aura sparkling around him. _This is my chance...I have to know what's going on with him!_

Full Cowl's speed made it easy for him to catch up to him, and soon he was on his tail and screamed, "Todoroki!"

"...!" The Schnee flinched. He had hoped no one would follow him, but there he was, … "What do you want, Rose?"

Deku paused, the Full Cowl fading around him as a question arose in his mind: What _did_ he want out of this? In actuality, he was sticking his nose into someone else's business. If Todoroki wanted help, he would have gotten it. _There isn't any actual reason I'm doing this...I probably shouldn't in the first place, but…_

" _Isn't it a huntsman's job to meddle in places they don't belong?!"_ His own voice resounded in his mind. _Back when I first met Ms. Goodwitch...that's right!_

"You're my teammate, Todoroki, and you will be for the next four years," Deku explained as best he could, but he could tell from the way he delivered his words that his voice was shaky. "It's only right that we tell each other what's bothering them. It will make us stronger as a team!"

"..." Izuku's words did make sense, but the white-redhead narrowed his eyes at his hesitation. "How do you even know that I'm 'being bothered'? Maybe I just wanted to go for a walk?"

"Well, first of all…" Izuku clenched his fist. He knew that the Schnee was lying and trying to get him off his back, and that annoyed him. _Why is he going so far to put barriers between us?_ "You said you were going to get a second lunch, only to leave without telling us. You also looked rather annoyed when you fought Cardin and his friends, an emotion that, for the short amount of time that I've known you, you tend to not to show a lot."

"Secondly, even though I wasn't there to see it, Yang and Ruby told me you looked physically angry when you killed the Deathstalker during the Semblance Assessment."

 _Damn. He's really thought through this..._ Todoroki thought, turning from his halfway stance to face Deku fully, his left side completely visible to the young Rose. For some reason beyond him, every time Izuku looked at that scar on the Schnee's face it...made him feel sympathetic. Like that scar had burned into something deeper than just his skin.

"...Fine. If you want to talk, we'll talk, but…" He gestured to the large amounts of students that were eating lunch outside and giving them stares as they walked by the two of them. "Maybe we should go somewhere more discreet?"

"O-Oh." Izuku nodded, "Yeah, sure."

 _Minutes later..._

"So what do you want to know?"

The walk was rather far, as Beacon's campus was filled with students eating lunch. They walked in silence, except the occasional, "Sorry" from the two of them as they bumped into a student from time to time. They found themselves in an unused part of the classrooms, where the hallways were skinner and the classrooms vacant and dusty. Todoroki leaned against the wall, with Deku taking the opposite side.

That question made Deku think for a moment. What _did_ he want to know about Todoroki? From what he could tell, the white-redhead's outward personality was just the tip of the iceberg. There was probably so much about him he either didn't want to know or couldn't understand. _Then again, that statement is probably true for most people..._ Izuku thought. _I need to think about this...one wrong question and he might misinterpret it and close himself off even more._

* * *

 _Earlier…_

" **BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

"What?! What is it?!"

"Bro, do you _not_ know how to tie a tie?! Why is it so short?!"

"Hey, I tried my best! Can we go now?!" His face was a strange mix of blue and red, red out of embarrassment and blue out the the lack of oxygen getting into his head since the tie was choking his esophagus. "I am a bit hungry, anyways...We didn't get to eat since the first class was so early…"

A stomach grumble shifted the attention from Deku to Ruby, the latter of whom gripped her stomach with a blush. "Uh...yeah, I can attest to that...ahem, excuse me." They blinked, and their sister was gone, the only thing signifying her leave was a gust of wind that caused them to stumble and any light objects around the room to fall of their standings.

"Well then." Yang started towards the door, gesturing for her brother to follow. "Ruby's probably already at the dining hall, so we better hurry before she gets all of the desserts."

"Y-Yeah…" Deku fixed his tie (not the actual shape but adjusting it to the center of his button-up) and followed her to the door. "Speaking of desserts, Ruby does eat a lot of cookies, huh?"

" _A lot_ is an understatement. Before we met you, Summer used to bake cookies for us. If she made a batch of a dozen, I'd only get through one while our sister ate five. Now, well...why do you think she wears a corset with her combat gear?"

"Don't corsets like, make your stomach look tight?"

"Exactly."

"Oh. Ohhhhh…" Yang snickered, and so did Deku. Yang made it to the doorway, but stopped. Suddenly the comical atmosphere just changed to a more...urgent vibe. "Before we go, one more thing I want to say about Todoroki…"

Deku raised an eyebrow, shifting gears from his sister to the person who they were planning to talk to. "Mhm? What about?"

"During Initiation…" The blonde's voice fell to cheerful to quiet and serious in about five seconds. "Remember when Weiss saved you from the Death Stalker by blasting fire at it?"

"U-Um…" He didn't want to be reminded of that time. He was almost skewered and snapped in half by that Grimm! "Yeah, it's still clear in my mind. Why?"

"Well...I tried to save you too, but you were too far away. Your _Full Cowl_ was too fast for me…"

" _Deku!" Yang broke into a full sprint. Deku was flat on his bottom, looking up, terrified as the Deathstalker's stinger stretched backwards, preparing to eviscerate his stomach. With Full Cowl gone, he had no way to defend himself, let alone stand up and try to run away._

"I...couldn't catch up to you. Despite my duty as a big sister to protect both you and Ruby, I didn't come close...you almost died…"

A small gasp was all Izuku could get out of his mouth. _She...tried to save me...but couldn't?..._

* * *

 _"GET AWAY FROM HER!" A green blur sped past Ruby, almost as if he had stolen her Semblance. The Grimm barely had any time to react as Izuku's arm became inflamed in an electric aura, his veins seeming to glow with a newfound power._

 _Izuku seemed to lose all control of himself when he saw Ruby in danger. Something...overcame him, driving him to jump in the fray and save her. He squatted down, and his legs felt like they were about to erupt with a strength he had never felt before. He kicked off, and for some reason the ground trembled around him as he took off, the trees and earth shaking before the strength he was outputting._

" _...clench your buttcheeks, kid...and yell this, from the depths of your heart!"_

 _"SMASH!"_

* * *

 _Izuku crashed his fist into the woman's stomach. He only aimed to incapacitate her, but the force behind his blow plus the shots he fired before un-stabilized the Bullhead beyond recovery. It swirled in the air, losing altitude and breaking down at an electric level. The force of the blast had knocked the electronics loose._

 _The Bullhead spun out of control and fell. With three people ready to be swallowed in the oncoming explosion._

 _Make that two, actually. "IZUKU!" Ruby pushed her Semblance to the limit, kicking off the building and zipping towards the falling Bullhead._

 _Her Semblance gave her limited flight, so barely, just barely, she managed to catch her brother mid-air and get out of the way before-_

 _BOOM!_

 _Ruby had stopped a block down from the crashed Bullhead. Izuku was in her arms, just beginning to come to. "I...ugh...Ruby?..."_

 _"Deku?..." She muttered as her brother gestured for him to get up by himself. She obliged, but not without holding him up first. He almost tripped on his own foot. "Hey, hey, don't push yourself...you almost killed yourself fighting her..."_

 _"Heh..." His fingers were in a constant state of pain, and his right arm was strained from the punch he had landed. Still, though...he found a way to smile after all that...and he had no idea why. "Well, at least we're even now..."_

* * *

 _That's right...both Ruby and I saved each other...but…_

"I couldn't do the same!" Yang exclaimed. Her hair started to glow, her fists clenched in a mix of sadness and anger...maybe futility? Either way, her usual cheerful way she carried herself was gone, and all Deku could do was stand there as she opened up her grievances to him. "I outright lost against that Ursa back at Patch which _you_ destroyed in one attack, I wasn't there to protect you from that woman at the Dust Shop that you and Ruby went to, and...at the Emerald Forest, you…"

* * *

The Death Stalker roared as it approached its next helpless meal. _Is...is this the end…?_ He closed his eyes. At the very least, he didn't want to see himself be turned into a human shish-kabob. _Yang...I'm sorry…_

Yang was too far away to make any difference in what was happening. The rest of the initiates looked on in horror as the Death Stalker crawled up to Izuku's paralyzed body. "IZUKU!" Was all she could yell.

 _Izuku, I'm so sorry…_

…"ROSE!"

 _R-Rose?..._ She looked to her right as she began to pass up Todoroki, who was just standing there watching, kneeling in the frostbitten grass around him. At first, Yang was about to yell at him for being so complacent when her brother was about to be killed, but she quickly realized he had patches of ice covering his right side, slowly growing as he pressed his teeth together to fight back the pain.

 _Does that mean...Todoroki overused his Semblance too?..._ Yang glanced back to the group by the ruins. They were all just watching excluding Weiss, who was refilling her Myrtenaster with Dust, probably getting ready to fight. _Dammit! I'm too slow and Todoroki's useless too-wait…_

His left side.

They were small, insignificant, even, like the flame of a candle. But there were many, and they were growing, both in number and size around his body. _W-What the hell?!_

 _He has a whole nother side to his Semblance?!_

The Schnee's eyes were filled with many emotions at that moment, but the most notable ones were uncertainty and anger. The flames around him grew as he raised his left arm, almost becoming noticeable at a far distance, but-

Weiss sped past him as his flames reached mid-peak. It was only for a brief moment, but that was enough for Todoroki's expression to fade into sadness. Even though he had once gotten to his two feet, he fell back to one knee, the fire around him gone, the only evidence of its existence being the ground around the white-redhead melted and the right side of his body warmed and devoid of frost.

Yang's mouth was agape at this. She was a few meters away from Todoroki and wasn't 100% sure if he knew she was there, but regardless... _whatever_ she had just witness was both incredible...and heartbreaking.

A yellow-orange glow manifested to her left. Weiss had blasted her own wave of fire at the Deathstalker, which caused the Grimm to screech in pain and back away from Deku. Yang sprung into action, using her Ember Celicas as a boost to get to Izuku. Without a word, and carried him back to the group with Weiss guarding them from behind.

As they passed Todoroki, Yang gave one last glance at him as he blasted another wave of ice between them and the Grimm.

* * *

"S-Seriously?!" Izuku stammered, "Todoroki…! He...he…"

"If you would, please ask him about it." Yang said it as more of a demand than request as she walked out the door and down the hall, with Deku following suit, "Ask him why it was so hard to activate...whatever that was."

"O-Okay. Gotcha."

* * *

 _Back to present…_

"Todoroki…" Izuku's eyes found themselves gazing particularly at the white-redhead's left side. The dark red hair, the painful-looking scar that covered a significant portion of his face...it just didn't correlate with his right side, which, if you were to mirror onto his left, he'd look like a Schnee, maybe a fraternal twin of his sister. _But that left side…_

 _Who knew it was holding a secret that big?_ "Y-Yang...she told me, that…"

"Hm?" Shoto, who was growing impatient and was mentally preparing to leave, was brought back with the mention of the green huntsman's sister. "What about her?"

"S-She told me about…" Deku imagined the flames that Yang described enveloping Shoto's left arm and torso. On paper, the left half of his-what he assumed to be-Semblance seemed incredibly powerful, but hard to control. _Flames are wild, and can cause great destruction if left unchecked...is that what this is about?_ "Y-Your...left side."

Todoroki's eyes widened as his hand instinctively covered his scar. "Why are you asking about it?!" Deku straightened up in fear as the Schnee's eyes went from shock to rage. He just pressed a button he had hoped he wouldn't press… "Answer me!"

"I-I…!" Deku's Full Cowl kicked into gear as he saw the frost around Todoroki begin to grow. "I...I just thought...why are you hiding it from the rest of us?...Not only would you be a stronger huntsman, but it would be easier to regulate your body temp-"

"Shut up!" Shoto stamped his foot as ice shards went flying. "I don't give a damn about that. It's not even your business asking me." He marched up to Deku, a pained yet rage-filled expression filling the young Rose's vision. "Want to know why I'm not using it?" He pointed at his scar and his hair. "This is why."

Izuku gulped as he got a front-seat view of the scar on the Schnee's face, and how the burn was etched into his skin like a fiery tattoo.

Backing away, Todoroki took a breath, and his body language implied he had calmed down, physically, at least. "We're done here, so I'm leaving."

He walked away, without a word. "Todoroki…" Deku muttered. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't scared of him in that instance. _He gives off this cold intimidation...something I've never seen before…_

" _It's not even your business asking me."_ Those words that Shoto said frustrated Deku to no end. Before the Schnee got too far, Deku rebuttaled with one last statement.

"If you believe in not sticking yourself in other people's business, then how come you saved that faunus in the cafeteria?"

Shoto stopped.

 _One. Two. Three._ Deku counted in his head.

He continued walking, and turned down another hallway. _That hesitation…_ Izuku thought. _Maybe I actually got through to him, somewhat…_

* * *

 _A few hours later…_

Throughout the day, Team RWBY and INP noticed that Todoroki had gone noticeably more silent than he usually was. I mean, yeah, when you asked him for extra pencil lead or to share a textbook he'd say a quiet, "Sure" and let you borrow but when Ruby asked to copy off some of his notes he just straight up ignored her, like she wasn't even there.

Ruby tried to chalk it up to he was salty at her for taking the rest of the cookies at lunch (Yang said he was more _sugary_ ), but Deku knew better. From where he was sitting in Doctor Oobleck's classroom, he could see the left side of his face clearly. He gazed into that scar until it became burned into his mind.

" _Want to know why I'm not using it?" He pointed at his scar and his hair. "This is why."_

 _What does he mean by that?_ Izuku thought. _Does the unique hair make him a target for bullying?...No, that can't be it. He went right up to Cardin and took down him and his friends in seconds. So...what is it?_

"Mr. Rose!" Doctor Oobleck's lightning fast voice snapped him out of his trance. "If you would, would you like to read the next section of the _Faunus Rights Revolution?_ Izuku blinked, staring back at his textbook. He had no idea where they were, he was out of it for at least a minute.

"U-Uhm…" Izuku flipped through the textbook while he mouth raced at a mile a second, "Okaysoconsideringtheaveragepersonreadsatabout250wordsaminute,anditcouldn'thavebeenaminutesinceIgotintomytrance,andsinceinformationaltextbookshavelongsentencesandparagraphsthatmeansthat...Ah ha!"

The rest of the class just shrugged and rolled with Izuku's muttering as he surprisingly got the paragraph spot-on: "The cause of the war is most likely due to the Humans' attempts to deport the Faunus to the continent of Menagerie, and circumstantially overturn the rights that the Faunus earned Post-Great War. However, the Faunus' efforts were mostly successful, with a huge chunk of the population still living in Remnant's Kingdoms."

"Huh. So it appears your quick-thinking can get you out of tough situations, Mr. Rose." Dr. Oobleck said, "Just be sure not to get distracted and stay focused next time."

"Y-Yes, sir!" He tried to get back into the lesson, but considering as a youth he had studied about everything there is to know about Remnant's history (Taiyang encouraged him to do so since, well, he remembered nothing), the subject bored him. He took a glance at his shoulder partner, Blake, who was uncharacteristically not reading her book and focusing hard on what Oobleck was teaching about the Faunus. _Why is she so interested in this?_ Izuku thought to himself. _Didn't we go over this part in history like, in 6th grade?_

His attention diverted back to Todoroki, who was in the same blank posture he was before, idly and mechanically taking notes with Ruby trying to get his attention in vain, until Oobleck shushed her, of course.

A few minutes later, class was dismissed, and thankfully it was the last of the day. Izuku put away his things and stood up to walk out the door and hopefully catch up to his stoic teammate, but Shoto had gotten out of there faster than Ruby when she sees a spider.

" _They're the devils of the earth, you hear me? DEVILS!"_

Normally that thought would have levied his stress a little, but Todoroki and whatever he was going through was overwhelming Deku's mind. He sighed, deciding instead to catch up to Ruby. _I'll talk to him about it later…_

As for Todoroki, he was walking fast down the hall, not wanting to run into anyone he knew and just head up to the dorms and rest. He knew that Pyrrha and Nora took extracurricular fighting classes and Izuku and RWBY were most likely going to study in the library, so he had no worries of meeting anyone there for the next two hours or so.

He made it back, and the twin smells of femininity and masculinity entered either nostril. _That's what they get for making them co-ed dorms..._ he thought as he threw down his bag and changed into more comfortable clothes. While he was doing so, the two smells stuck around him. They weren't necessarily repugnant smells, but rather it was as if the two complemented each other to create a unique scent that was overpowering his nose. _Wait…_

Two smells. Complementing each other…

 _Masculinity and Femininity...duality...night and day, Ice and-!_

He cut himself short, not wanting to think about that anymore and crashed on the bed with his arms folded over his head in frustration. _If only Winter was here…maybe she'd know what to say about all of this..._

* * *

 _Four days ago…_

"Remember, Shoto." Winter Schnee said through the white-redhead's scroll, on call. It was the night before he and Weiss would leave for Beacon Academy and, considering General Ironwood had given her some free time, she decided to call the two of them individually, as she had different things to say.

The advice she had for Weiss was simple: "Remember your training", "Be sure to make friends", "Enjoy Beacon, but also study hard", et cetera, et cetera. But for Shoto, she had some more words to address to him other than the norm.

"You've been homeschooled your whole life, yes. But at Beacon Academy, the atmosphere and the environment is much different. Not only will you be competing with and simultaneously working together with your classmates, but there might even be times where you are put in danger. It is crucial that you form meaningful relationships with your peers, and open up to them if you have any grievances or qualms to confess."

Todoroki placed the multiple copies of his school uniform (that the school was generous enough to hand out to the students free of charge) into a luggage. His and Weiss' stuff would be consolidated by a maid later. He was listening to Winter's words, sure, but he wasn't exactly understanding the reasons as to _why_. "How come? I've already gotten far in your training with my Semblance...I'm sure I'll get through Beacon just fine on my own."

"Shoto…" Winter's voice chided, "Even if you so desired that, Beacon automatically puts their students in teams of four, essentially encouraging synergy with your teammates. It's meant to balance out one students' faults with another's strength, and vice versa…" The way the older Schnee worded that phrase reminded her of Shoto's own situation. She took a breath and continued, although inwardly she already knew what his answer was going to be, "...Speaking of balancing out faults, your Semblance is very powerful."

Like Todoroki hasn't heard that statement a million times already, not just from Winter but from all of the butlers and maids in the Schnee Manor. "...Your point is?"

"I _mean_ that is much like yourself. It's strong, quick and effective. It gets the job done fast, but...without something to balance out it's fault, mainly being _cold-shouldered_ and apathetic towards most people, it can never reach its fullest potential."

The young Schnee took a moment to analyze what Winter had just said, until it clicked on him: "...Are you suggesting that-"

"Shoto...I really think you should use it. Why are you letting our father and _Whitley_ of all people control you? It is literally _half_ of who you are."

"Stop trying to convince me, Winter…" He snapped, zipping up his suitcase rather aggressively, "Even Weiss said it was too barbaric for a Schnee...if I want to be a true part of this family and not seen as an _adopted outcast_ , then I can't use it."

"Weiss really said that?..." She muttered, making a mental note to slap her foolish little sister the next time she got the chance. "A-Anyways...if that's what you believe, I won't stop you."

"Good." Shoto said, "Father, Whitley...Weiss...even our mother…"

" _That left side is...unbearable to me…"_

He shook his head, wanting to get that scene out of his immediate consciousness. "It's getting late, Winter, and we're leaving early in the morning."

"Right, I apologize," Todoroki heard Winter part from her scroll for a moment to tell someone that she'll "be right there", and turned back and said, "Good night, Shoto. Please don't give up on that side of yourself…"

"What if I already did?" Winter hung up just as he finished. Shoto sighed dishearteningly, shutting off the scroll and placing it in his luggage bag. The clock read 10:30. "Time for bed…" He climbed into bed, not bothering to change, or to even do his proper routine of washing his face. _I have too much to think about…_

It was only at the break of midnight that Shoto Todoroki Schnee's exhaustion overcame his overwhelming thoughts and he drifted to sleep.

* * *

 _Back to the present…_

Those thoughts had returned, this time with no exhaustion to hold it back. "That's right…" Shoto whispered "She already does…and she doesn't agree with me…dammit…" The white-redhead shook his head as he pulled up the blanket.

He only had about five minutes to himself before a light knock on the door caught his attention. _If it was Izuku, or even Pyrrha or Nora, they'd just open it with their key card, but since they're knocking..._ Not wanting to be late for whoever it was, He quickly climbed out of bed and opened the door.

To be met with bunny ears with a girl attached to them. Todoroki blinked. _Oh. It's that girl that Cardin and his asshole friends were bullying…_

"U-um...Hi." The faunus stammered, struggling to find her words. "My name's Velvet Scarlatina, y'know, the girl that you saved at the cafeteria earlier?" Todoroki silently nodded, "I just...wanted to come by and say...thanks."

Shoto gave a passive shrug, "It's nothing, really. Those guys aren't people that you can deal with with diplomacy. Force was needed...so I did."

"Well, even if that's the case, I just wanted to thank you in person, since I kind of _hopped_ away earlier…" She pointed at her rabbit ears, "See? Get it? Ha...ha...I'm sorry."

"Like I said, it's nothing. Don't act like you owe me or anything." Shoto was about to turn away and close the door, but…

"W-Wait!" Velvet stopped him, he turned over his left shoulder to face the Faunus, "How come you did all that, anyways? It wasn't really your business…"

" _Wait a minute!"_

 _What the hell?_ It was happening again. _Those memories...that just seem to pop out of existence…!_

" _Isn't it a -'s job to meddle in places that they don't belong?"_ That voice was... _me? I'm saying this?_

" _If - hadn't done anything, then - would have been killed or seriously hurt...So are you saying we should have followed the rules and watch people get hurt when WE could have stepped in? Isn't it a -'s job to meddle in places that they don't belong?"_

There were clear gaps in his memory, but the fact that _that_ had appeared in his head without any previous knowledge of him saying it was...astounding, and a little scary. _I don't remember me saying that...so why does it sound like me?_

"Um...you alright there, buddy?"

"Wha-oh. Yeah, I'm fine." He lied. In fact, he was a little shaken up about that whole thing that had probably happened in the past ten seconds, but… _How come it feels like it's trying to tell me something?_

" _Isn't it a -'s job to meddle in places that they don't belong?"_ That phrase.

He knew what it meant now, or at least, had an idea.

"I helped Velvet because she was in danger, even though it wasn't really my place to do so…"

"Um…?" Velvet was taken aback as the boy kind of just said her name when she was right on front of her. "Do you need to go a the nurse's office, or…?"

 _His Semblance kicked in, the frost enveloping the area around him, then quickly shooting up towards team CRDL and the faunus. It silently traveled up the legs of the table, onto the bench, onto the tabletop, and then…_

" _What the hell? What is this?!" Within seconds, Cardin's arm became glued to the mahogany bench by the ice, the freezing temperatures burning into his skin. Panic started to overcome his body as he looked around for the perpetrator._

"And Izuku tried to help me for the same reason…"

"No like, seriously, are you alright?"

" _I-I…!" Deku's Full Cowl kicked into an automatic defense mode as he saw the frost around Todoroki begin to grow. "I...I just thought...why are you hiding it from the rest of us?...Not only would you be a stronger huntsman, but it would be easier to regulate your body temp-"_

" _Shut up!" Shoto stamped his foot as ice shards went flying._

"I know what it's trying to say to me now…" He marched past the doorway, leaving the Faunus in the dark about, well, pretty much everything that went through his mind.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Velvet shouted as he walked at a quick pace down the hall towards the elevator. "He didn't even say _You're welcome,_ or anything…"

* * *

"NOOOOOOOO!" Ruby threw up her arms in anguished defeat, as several readers around her (including Blake) told her to shush. Deku chuckled lightly as his sister found comfort in Yang's arms. "MY QUEEN! HOW COULD YOU?!" Izuku glanced down at the chess game that he and Ruby were playing. Yes indeed, he had taken Ruby's Queen. With a pawn, no less, which just added salt to the wound.

"To be fair, Ruby…" Yang, the liaison for the duo and the referee and timer for the game, said, "You _did_ kind of forget that pawns can take pieces diagonally. You walked right into that one."

"I KNOW! WEISS! TISSUE!" The Schnee rolled her eyes and forked over a tissue that Ruby had asked for. The nose-blowing was even louder than her screams of loss.

 _How childish..._ Weiss thought as she continued to examine and file her fingernails. They needed to be "pristine", according to her self-placed Schnee rules.

"B-B-But it doesn't change the fact that _Izuku_ over here is a big ol' jerk!"

"Whaddya mean?!" Deku countered, " _You_ took both of my bishops!"

"BISHOPS ARE THE WORST SPECIAL PIECE!"

"HEY! THEY'RE MY FAVORITE!"

"WELL YOUR FAVORITES SUCK!"

"Would you two please keep it down?" Blake stated flatly, "We _are_ in a library, you know."

"Oh, right." Ruby said, calming down and wiping her nose clean with the tissue. "Sorry.."

...

...

"You have ten seconds to make a move, Sis."

"CRAP!"

"What did I _just_ get done saying?"

"Ruby, you are _such_ a child."

"Um...am I interrupting something?"

"Ah!" Ruby yelped at the voice and jerked her head up to see, "Oh, it's you, Todoroki."

"Wanna play chess?" Yang suggested, "Ruby's about to get her butt beat in the next two turns, I bet!"

"Why is everyone against me…"

"Actually, I wanted to talk with my teammate," Izuku's spine straightened like a tightened cord at the implication of himself. "One-on-one, if that's possible."

"Oh, O-Okay…" Izuku stood up and followed Shoto's gesture to talk outside, and within moments it was just Team RWBY.

"You think they'll be alright?" Ruby asked her sister, "Deku did tell us how last time went…"

"Ah, I'm sure he'll be okay…" Yang said, but in reality she was a little concerned too. _Hopefully he'll get him to open up this time…_ "But enough of that. I'm playing against you this time, Sis. Blake, keep time! Weiss is too busy looking at her nails to pay attention."

"Hey! You say that like it's a bad thing!" Weiss argued, but turned her head with a "Hmph" and to prove a point opened up her history textbook.

 _*sigh*...Just as I was getting to the katana scene…_ Blake silently closed her book (that she had inconspicuously covered the front and back with paper as to prevent "scratch marks and tears") and pulled out her scroll and opened up the "Timer" app. "Alright, you each have 30 seconds per turn. And...go."

"Took your Rook." Yang snickered as she kicked off Ruby's one remaining Rook with a Knight.

"HOW?!"

* * *

"Alright, what do _you_ want to talk about, now?" Izuku asked timidly, "You're not planning on freezing me or anything, are you?..."

"What?" Todoroki raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Of course not. I rarely do that to people."

The thought of Team CRDL becoming human-sized popsicles popped into Izuku's mind. _Really, now?_ "A-Anyways, what's up?"

"Well…" Todoroki stared at his left arm, the arm that was a part of the side on himself that he hated. "I...considered what you had said to me earlier, and...I'm sorry for acting so aggressive towards you, and I apologize for being a hypocrite."

"Oh." _Yes!_ Izuku inwardly celebrated, _I got through to him after all!_ "I forgive you, but…"

" _S-She told me about…y-your...left side."_

 _Todoroki's eyes widened as his hand instinctively covered his scar. "Why are you asking about it?!" Deku straightened up in fear as the Schnee's eyes went from shock to rage. "Answer me!"_

"What about everything else we talked about?"

"..." Shoto paused for a moment, thinking back to the quote that had caused him to come back and apologize in the first place, _It only told me I was being hypocritical...not that I should just spill my whole life story on someone I don't know very well…_ "I'll tell you...down the line." Izuku silently nodded in agreement, "I want to get to know this school better, and more importantly...my _teammates._ "

 _Wow,_ Izuku blinked, _this is really out of character for him. Usually he's all silent but...he's really sincere about this._ "I understand." Deku bowed, "Thank you!"

Shoto could hear Winter's words if she was here right now, "See? What did I tell you? Friends really _are_ important."

 _Whatever, Winter…_

However, his mind brought him to a more...pressing matter. _That memory in the first place._

 _Where did it come from? And how come...how come Izuku said that he was experiencing the same thing?_ "Stand up straight, I have something else to say."

"Hm?" The leader of Team INPT straightened his posture, "What?"

" _Isn't it a -'s job to meddle in places they don't belong?"_

"It...happened to me again." Shoto explained, to Deku's interest.

"What...happened?" He inquired.

"I had another...weird memory occurrence. It happened not too long ago, too…" He recalled back to when he first had it: When he talked to Velvet back at the dorms. It was sudden, out of nowhere, and for some strange reason the words it had to say had to do with his current situation.

When he told Izuku this, he surprisingly nodded in agreement and looked a little relieved. "I had a dream a little while back too, when I was knocked out after my race with Ruby. It had me...throw a ball, kind of like the test in the Semblance Assessment, only the people who were watching me had voices I didn't recognize and certain words were cut out."

"It can't be a coincidence, right?" Todoroki asked. "Do you think it might just be us having these weird occurrences?"

Izuku shook his head, "Like what we talked about last night, I doubt it's just us. There might be someone else experiencing the same thing out there, and if they are, we should probably find them and talk to them about it."

"It's all speculation, though…" Shoto said pensively, "Whether it's just us or there's more people, I have a feeling if we openly ask about this to people they might think we're crazy."

"Right, that's true." Izuku placed his thumb and index finger around his chin in thought, "What do you suggest we do, then? Just wait until we get more evidence as to what's going on with us?"

Todoroki nodded in agreement, and walked back towards the library with Izuku following from behind, "It might all be bogus and we're just grasping at straws, or there might be something bigger going on that we don't understand…only time will tell which one it is."

" _ **We'll just have to wait and see."**_

* * *

 **Things have just begun.**

 **Ohhh man, I can't tell you how happy I am I just jumped this hurdle. Everything up until this point has been an introduction to the story and how it'll work...and now, more than 50k words in, it can finally take off.**

 **Well, soon. I'll be taking a break next week to get a little more ahead in my writing and to ensure that the next few chapters are good enough for release. So expect chapter 8 at the end of May at the earliest.**

 **But enough about that, how about going over all of that crap that just happened?**

 **I think it's been an obvious thing that Izuku and Shoto still somewhat have the memories of their past lives in their subconscious (I mean, it was said in the summary of the story, so yeah). When they were kids, it was completely gone from their immediate memory, but as they age to the point they were before they're beginning to remember one important thing: _Why_ they wanted to be heroes.**

 **Or in RWBY's vocabulary: Why they're becoming huntsmen.**

 **I think it's also obvious to assume that they're not originally from Remnant, and I'm just going to flat out say it now: You're on the right track thinking that. It's a bit more complicated, and with the chapters I've prewritten now and the notes I have...it's safe to say the answer to that is a lot, a LOT more complex than it is at face-value.**

 **Another thing: Todoroki's left side.**

 **I know that in the original canon Shoto's left side was forbidden for him in order for him to stick it to his father. However, here, it goes a bit deeper.**

 **Imagine growing up with a family, getting to know them, learning what it's like to love them. Shoto had that love for a number of the Schnee's, some more than others, but still.**

 **But then, his father starts despising his left side. His brother does the same. His mother becomes an alcoholic and secludes herself, Winter leaves for the military and Weiss becomes cold and distant to him because of his powers.**

 **Everyone. Left him.**

 **At this point it'd be fair for him to just not use his powers at all, but for the sake of the story I decided I'd at least let him use his right side, since, well, if his family uses ice powers at least he can too, right? That's my logic, at least.**

 **He isn't using his left because he think people hate him for using it. But he isn't petty, not like his canon self. If there's someone in danger, someone about to die, like Izuku did with the Grimm...it almost pushed him. Nearly. I can guarantee another few seconds and maybe it would have happened, but...**

 **Years of torment because of it and for some reason it'll just erupt? Weiss giving him that stare also reminded him as to why he stopped using it in the first place.**

 **Not even Deku can push through the scars that have been burned on him. For now, at least.**

 **But besides that, I at least wanted Shoto to be more open to his teammates, and what better way to do that than beating up bullies, hypocritical actions, and plot-based revelations? Why not?**

 **It's a hero's job to meddle in places they don't belong. Shoto knows that now, just not the hero part.**

 **Final tidbit: Memories.**

 **They're completely aware of it now, and are now going to be wary of them in the future.**

 **The "memories" side-plot I had going was an interesting one, but them constantly reacting to it like it was a surprise to them would have not made sense and it would have been strange if they didn't start asking people about it. So Izuku and Todoroki do know now, and instead of treating it like a surprise they'll treat it like a piece to a puzzle.**

 **A very, _very_ large and intricate puzzle.**

 **And with that, I'll take my leave. Again, expect chapter 8 by the end of May.**

 **See you until then!**


	10. Decaying Peace (Chapter 8 Prologue)

**Yo. It's been a little while, huh?**

 **In fact, about three weeks, and at this point I've passed my deadline of the end of May. It's June now, so...yeah. Sorry.**

 **To be honest, the chapters that I have written aren't quite ready to be released yet, as I still have to check them over for grammar mistakes as well as editing continuity errors or simply parts of the chapters that don't fit well at all. However, good news is, I am working on the White Fang Investigation Arc, although it might be a month or two until it's all ready.**

 **But back on to this chapter: As you can see by the length, it's not actually chapter 8, as that one is also not ready. This week's finals week, so my hands are tied on most of everything about this story until Friday passes. However, this short section is a part that I _do_ have ready, and since it doesn't really fit anywhere in chapter 8 I decided to release it now as a preview for the finale of Volume One. **

**Why would a chapter need a preview? Because Chapter 8's frickin' long as hell. Won't say the word amount, I'll leave that as a surprise. But it's long. Very.**

 **Anyways, enjoy this snippet until then! Chapter 8 should be up this weekend. Maybe. Probably.**

 **Flip a coin.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Update: I added a little more to the chapter to give it a bit more flavor! :)**

* * *

Here he was again.

A simple old man, looking for a simple old job so he can retire in a few years like any other old person. Just a few weeks ago, his old Dust Shop had been broken into and he was held at gunpoint and nearly killed by a guy in a white trenchcoat and rather suave hair. If it wasn't for the girl and the boy with those crazy weapons and Semblances, he'd probably either lose all of his money or be killed.

But alas, the Vale government thankfully reimbursed him for all the damages that had occured. As a result, he decided to take his shop and move to a different location- preferably on the opposite side of the city so he'd never have to come across those thugs ever again.

And for a little while, his little plan had succeeded. Now making a fair profit from his Dust and book sales he was looking at a rather comfy retirement: maybe he'd even be able to move to a nice house by the beachside of Mistral.

Oh, how he'd longed to go to Mistral.

He blinked his way out of his trance at the sound of the front door chiming. Quickly setting the new books onto the shelves, he made his way to the front desk to meet the new customer.

"May I help you, sir?"

The man didn't look too good physically: His hair was unkempt and wild, the long pale blue strands falling over his face and covering his eyes. The black hoodie covered his head, hiding the pale, almost unhealthy looking skin tone that was obvious from the color of his hands, which were both in his jacket pocket. He looked down, not wanting to make any sort of eye contact.

"Do you…" The hooded figure's voice was rather raspy. It was still clear, but the tone of it was chilling. The old man felt some of his gray hairs on his arms stand up. "Do you have any Dust available?"

"U-Um...yes…" The old man, taken aback by the mystery of his customer, carefully unlocked the glass door containing the Dust and brought the four main elements out for view: "We have Water, Earth, Fire and Air. How many pounds would you like me to ration for you?"

"Hm…" The man looked up and down at the four elements before him. Even though the old man couldn't see his eyes he could tell that this rather peculiar customer showed little interest in them, despite requesting to see them in the first place. He picked up the Air Dust Crystal first, with only his thumb and three fingers, leaving his pinky in the air. "Intriguing. I think I will take…" He placed his pinky on the crystal. "All of them."

The shopkeep gasped, taking a step back in shock as he watched his Dust, his _livelihood_ , get turned into actual dust and decay into the air. The bright white crystal deformed and faded into a sickening gray before falling into a pile of ash on the glass countertop.

The man continued, now taking the Earth Dust and crumbling it to pieces. "You know, Earth Dust is said to have the strongest crystalline form...and yet here we are. How strange, these things are."

"Y-You're destroying my property!" The shopkeep exclaimed, reaching under the counter for a weapon for defense. He had learned his lesson from the last meetup with goons.

With a click, the shopkeep's gun had been cocked, filled with Dust and ready to fire.

"Hey, let's not get too hasty, now…" The pale skinned man remained composed as the two remaining crystals -Fire and Water- both began disintegrating between his fingers. "You kill me, that's on you. Meanwhile, I'm over here destroying your livelihood between my fingers. Your fate literally rests in my hands." The Fire Dust melted away, and the Water Dust turned to steam and disintegrated in his hand. "So, what is it going to be, Mr. Shopkeep? You have three options. One, You kill me and you spend the rest of your short life in prison, two, I slowly destroy every last one of your precious items, putting you into bankruptcy, or three, you give in and give me _all_ of your available Dust. I'll let you keep your books. What is it going to be?"

The shopkeep knew this guy might have been trouble the moment he walked in, but he didn't expect _this_. The way the man carried himself, the way he turned the Dust into ashes right before his eyes...it was much scarier than the random thugs put down by those children.

Oh, how he wished those children were here right now.

"I'll...I'll shoot! I mean it!" The shopkeep kept his finger on the trigger, pulling back from firing as much as he can. The hooded man was right: If he were to shoot, he'd be the criminal. He was in a lose-lose situation, no matter what he did.

"Hm...do it, then. See where it takes you."

"Gr…" The shopkeep had had enough of this. The gun he had was filled with Dust, meaning it probably wouldn't kill, simply incapacitate with ice or fire, but reasonably all the man had to do at this point in time was pay for four Dust Crystals. Right now, the crime would go to him.

"You're hesitating, I can tell." The hooded figure placed his full palm on the glass counter. Instantly, the glass fell apart, decaying into sand and falling onto the Dust that was originally for display. "Make your decision now, shopkeeper, before I make your entire store dust in the wind."

"D-Damn you!" He pulled the trigger.

 _Click._

The hooded man gave an unnerving, crazed smile. "Oh, that's too bad. You forgot to turn off the safety." Like lightning, he grabbed the gun by the slide and aimed it into the air, making sure to keep his pinky from touching it. The man's head peered upwards, and this time the shopkeep could see the full view of the man's face.

His cracked lips were uneven around his mouth, and his whole face appeared wrinkled and tight, especially around the eyes. His pupils were an ominous red, peering into the shopkeep's soul with malicious intent. There were two noticeable scars, one on his right eye and one on his lip from shallow cuts.

"You know, I like to think of this world like the little stunt you pulled with your gun just now." The man explained, "Huntsmen and Huntresses, fighting to keep the world safe, to keep life as it is for the humans and faunus. But when the world is _too_ safe, when the world depends too much on these paragons of good, of _justice_ …" He pointed to the safety switch on the gun, "the world itself cannot execute what is truly needed for the world, dependent on only one part of society to pick up their slack."

The Shopkeep growled at the man's monologuing, shaking his gun around to try and get it out of his grip, but it was all for naught. He felt the dry, cold hands of the man's hand grab this throat with four fingers. He attempted to pry off the hand, but the grip was shockingly powerful.

"That's where _we_ come in. We plan to rebuild this world, and memories of huntsmen will act as stepping stones to a better future. However, in order to rebuild…" His little finger went down on the pistol. It, too, began disintegrating within his fingertips until it was a pile of dust on the shattered glass.

"We must destroy." He put all five fingers down around the shopkeeper's throat.

The night became ever so more bleak as the screams of the old shopkeep turned to choked, agonizingly desperate gulps of air and then…

Silence.

* * *

"Kurogiri, it's done." Tomura stepped over the pile of dust that used to be the entrance to Dust 'Till Dawn as he spoke through his scroll. Turning one final time at the destruction that he had wrought, he couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at himself. "Oh, how I love a bit of chaos…"

The entire Dust Shop was in ruins. Bookshelves had been emaciated into wooden shavings that caked the ground in thick layers. The front counter's glass was shattered, completely exposing the Dust that was once just for display. The cashier station was completely devoid of lien, stashed inside Shigaraki's jacket pockets. The computer was broken down to the electrical level, and the cameras that were monitoring the room had been cut off as the wiring powering them was now dust on the ground like 80% of all the items that were once a part of the shop.

And of course, the newly made corpse was limp among the debris. Tomura paid no mind to it as he exited the building. It was extremely late at night, and so there were little to no people walking the streets of Vale, and therefore there were no witnesses around. The police would surely investigate this in the morning, but by then it would be too late.

As if on cue, pitch black, ink-like gas materialized from nothing, expanding into a wavy oval shape big enough for humans to fit through. Men in suits emerged from the portals, carrying empty Dust canisters and entering the decayed Dust Shop. They then proceeded to take as much Dust as possible: from the raw Dust crystals to the refined sand-like versions. Within minutes, the entire store was wiped dry, and without any incident they had left as soon as they came.

Shigaraki watched as the men filed into the portals, and as the last one walked through he went in without looking back.

The first words he heard as he surfaced to the other end were that of praise. "How impressive, Shigaraki." It was a woman's voice, and one he was not particularly fond of. The person in question stepped into view, walking past the fedora-wearing cronies and giving a sly smirk. "You managed to steal all that Dust without drawing attention to yourself. Killing the only witness and destroying any evidence...I'm sure the Vale police will find this case a puzzling one, since you're not on their records."

"Don't patronize me with your words, Cinder." Shigaraki immediately spat. He had worked with people who were very similar in terms of mindset and personality, so the moment he was forced to work with woman he had despised her instantly.

Keyword was _with_ , not _for_. "Don't act as if I'm your inferior. We both know this is a four-way joint job."

"Yes, yes, I understand." Cinder's composure remained unfettered, and that infuriated Shigaraki. "I was simply congratulating you on a job well done."

"Oh, so we're comparing jobs, then?" Tomura smiled evilly. "Then how about we talk about your blunder with the Dust Shop a few months ago? Weren't you and Torchwick outsmarted, outmaneuvered and overpowered by two teenagers?"

"..." Silence. Shigaraki took that as the sign that he was getting to her.

"Oh yeah, how is that stomach of yours feeling? That punch that kid threw at you put you out of commission for weeks."

"Shut. Up." Cinder began to crack. How dare this bastard turn the tables on her! Just a moment ago he was saying they should act as equals, and now he's putting her on the burner. Hypocritical, this man was. To this day, Cinder still couldn't completely figure out Shigaraki, nor what he wanted out of all of this. "Are you asking to be burned? Because I will do it in a heartbeat."

"Oh yeah?" Shigaraki rebuttaled, opening his arms wide as if to say "Come at me". "Try me, then."

"If you insist." Cinder's right hand set ablaze: a small inferno growing in her hand.

Before anything could happen, however, the all-too-familiar black portal appeared in between them. A rather tall man in a suit stepped between them. His large, bright yellow eyes that contrasted the darkness of the mist covering his actual head narrowed scoldingly, like a parent lecturing two fighting children. "Cinder, Tomura, we mustn't fight amongst ourselves. Our objective is completed, and Shigaraki has done what was needed. Now all we need is for Torchwick to steal the Dust at the docks, and we should have enough for the next step."

"...Yes, you are right." The fire in Cinder's hand calmed and dissipated as she stood to her feet. Kurogiri was correct: their plan was almost ready to commence phase two. She needed time to plan it out, so time away from that matter-decaying bastard would probably be for the best. She glared at Tomura before she walked out of the abandoned warehouse. "I will settle this dispute with you later."

Shigaraki smiled under the hand. "I'd like to see you try."

* * *

 **I killed Shopkeep.**

 **I can almost see the rotten food and jeering being thrown my way. But really, I knew killing him would set the tone for the rest of this story going forward.**

 **Just like how the presence of Stain in HeroAca Season 2 made the overall series darker and set up the real tragic and dark Season 3, the reveal of Shigaraki in the RWBYverse serves the same purpose here. Up until this point, the villains we know weren't all that intimidating.**

 **Yes, Cinder being in the shadows in Volume One as well as her mysterious but powerful attacks made her formidable, but we didn't know the _why_ of her actions (in fact, five Volumes in and we still don't). **

**Shigaraki, on the other hand? Not only is his "Semblance" one of the most terrifying powers I've seen in a while, but he's got a whole set of ideals with an entire backstory of _why_ he's a villain, and his values and morals put up against the world of Remnant will be an interesting one to write out. There is no All Might, but the corruption that we see in all of the Kingdoms' governments will be more than enough of a reason for him to get angry.**

 **This was the introduction to Shigaraki that I should have made, not his short cameo in chapter two. Oh well, this one is still just as effective in setting him up. His place in the story is gonna be an important one.**

 **Well...I'll see you all until the next one! If you're taking your finals, then I wish you luck!**


	11. It Has Begun (Part I)

**Oh man, let me tell you a tale. Not just the one I'm writing now, but the paragraph or two below that explains why I've been gone for a few weeks and haven't been able to update since that preview a little while back, obviously I've already been telling a tale for about (read: exactly) 60,000 words sans this chapter.**

 **As a side note, how the heck did my story get to exactly 60,000 words?! That's like, a miracle. Oh well, probably a coincidence. I think.**

 **Anyways, from when I uploaded the Chapter 8 preview to now has been a hectic one. Firstly, went to Europe. Won't get into detail, but it was a pretty exciting experience. Being at the top of the Eiffel Tower was fun.**

 **Then when a got back a few days ago, I got an e-mail from one of my friends (who is technically my beta-reader but doesn't actually have an account on this site) saying that the ending for Chapter 8 felt a bit rushed and there wasn't a lot of stakes, if at all. Which, I would argue was sort of like the OG fight. I mean, once Penny and Ruby got to the scene it was pretty much over: the White Fang were a bunch of fodder and Torchwick was outnumbered 4-to-1.**

 **So, to make up for that, I paused my writing of Volume 2 and worked to rebuild the entire Volume 1 finale battle from the ground up and, oh boy, adding (you'll find out) into the mix was definitely the right decision. The fight scene went from being just over 3,000 words to now being about twice that length, and keep in mind that I'm not even done writing it yet, so it could get to be, as Vegeta would put it:**

 **OVER NINE THOUSA-okay you get the idea.**

 **Yeah, that fight's going to be a long one. So long, in fact, that I'm splitting chapter 8 into two parts: this one, and then part two hopefully tomorrow (which is American Independence Day. Yay). I'm not completely done with the final battle, so this is everything that leads up to it, and it's, well, a lot. The largest chapter I've written, for now at least (Although I doubt I'll get over 15k on my chapters consistently).**

 **Hope you enjoy it! I've worked hard on it :)**

 **P.S. This happens a few weeks after the last chapter (chapter 7, not the preview, which happens the night before)**

* * *

Chapter 8- It Has Begun (Part I)

Fourteen years.

Fourteen years Izuku has lived on Remnant. During that time, he's gotten to live with a loving family with…let's just say, their fair share of quirks, he's gotten to know the monsters that dwell outside of the walls of the four kingdoms, and how and why those monsters are there in the first place.

He's gotten to know the history of Remnant, why there are four kingdoms to begin with and why they are separated. He's learned the ups and downs of humanity in this strange world.

And yet, at the same time, it wasn't strange to him. It's all he's known. At least... _I think so._

Weeks ago, he and his teammate Todoroki made a pact: to inform each other on any new information regarding their...odd circumstance.

Unknown memories have begun to sprout into their minds. At first, they didn't think anything of it, but with these occurrences happening at least once a week for the past two or three years...at this point, it's happened enough for them to put up their guard.

" _There might be something bigger going on that we don't understand,"_ Todoroki had said to him. " _We'll just have to wait and see."_

And wait he did. It's been months since their talk and months since a new memory. The silence was eery, but the young Rose didn't think too much of it. He had more important things to worry about, specifically an event that was going to happen in the coming months.

The Vytal Festival.

It was an event that he had heard of before but for some reason had glossed over in his textbooks. Apparently, many years back, the kingdoms of Remnant: Atlas, Haven, Vacuo and Vale all had a sort of disdain for each other. Due to this, they waged war, known simply as the _Great War._ Many lives were lost, as the negativity in all Kingdoms not only caused people to kill each other but also for Grimm to come in and ensue further chaos.

It was what was known as the Dark Ages of Remnant.

And so, to put an end to this, the leaders of the Four Kingdoms met on an island not a part of any kingdom: Vytal. There, they signed a document that assured peace between Kingdoms, and to hold up that fateful day they all agreed to hold a festival every two years, alternating between the Kingdoms of Remnant.

This year, Vale would be holding the Vytal Festival. Which meant all eyes were in Beacon Academy in the most prestigious part of the Festival: the Tournament.

It was something Izuku was both looking forward to and was apprehensive about. "I wonder how many fighters there are going to be...what weapons will they have? How strong will their Semblances be? What games will the tournament organizers come up with? Will it be a strictly combative tournament?"

It was at that point that Yang and Ruby had shushed him as they walked down the streets of Vale, watching around them as dozens of citizens put up decorations in honor of what was about to take place.

He glanced at Todoroki, who was walking with him. His slightly downward gaze towards the concrete made Izuku think he was probably deep in thought, so he decided against breaking the white-redhead's train of thought. Pushing forward, he caught up to Team RWBY. Weiss in particular seemed quite jovial about the festivities going on around the city, a fact that Taiyang's middle child had found quite surprising.

"But like, seriously, I haven't seen you this excited for, well, _anything_ before. It's kind of weirding me out…"

"Hey, don't ruin this for me!" The Ice Queen's typical sassy attitude suddenly came back, "I can get excited for a lot of things. The Vytal Festival just so happens to be one of them." She walked off with her signature "Hmph" and went a few steps ahead of the group to oversee the reason why they had came out here in the first place: the docks.

"Wait, so…" Izuku suddenly cut in, "Why are we at the docks, again?"

"Yeah, it's Friday." Yang said, "Why are we wasting our weekend at a place that smells subtlety like fish?"

"I dunno, I kind of enjoy the smell…" Blake murmured, a sentence that Weiss narrowed her eyes at, before the reason why they had traveled here came back to her.

The Schnee then tried her best to put on a professional tone and syntax, "As a...representative of Beacon Academy, it is my- _our_ solemn duty to welcome all newcomers to this prestigious and lovely kingdom."

Yang scoffed, "My money's on you just wanting to see the competition."

"Well, you just forfeited your money."

"Did I really?"

"...Maybe."

"Hey, guys…" Shoto's normally timid voice was eclipsed by the others, who were suddenly in a very convoluted conversation about the potential opponents they might face.

"I wonder what weapons they'll have!" Ruby exclaimed, "There's so many possibilities! Y'know, at Signal I saw a guy who used a _euphonium_ as a weapon. Crazy, right?! I bet some might even be crazier!"

Weiss smirked, "Well, no matter what weapon they pull out, I don't think _anything_ will beat that oversized scythe of yours in terms of flashiness."

"Hey! Don't make fun of my brother!"

"Um, Aneki, she wasn't even talking to me…"

"I'm talking about Crescent Rose."

"Oh...wait, you gave it a gender?"

"Guys…" Todoroki's voice rose a little, but still not loud enough. He locked his eyes on something...strange in the distance, but due to his distraction he didn't notice his classmates' conversation getting louder.

"Screw weapons, I wanna see their fighting styles. One time I was at a club, and there was these weird chicks that looked pretty adept at kickfighting."

Ruby snickered, "Heh, I wonder if there's going to be a person that straps their weapon to their feet, kind of like Yang but-"

"GUYS!" The white-redhead shouted, stopping his teammate and RWBY and pointing to a building surrounded by "Do Not Cross" tape and Vale Police. "I think we should check that out."

* * *

"What happened here, sir?" Ruby was the first to approach the police barrier among her teammates, Yang and Shoto not far behind. "It doesn't look too good…"

"Yeah, I'll say." The detective sighed, "This is the third robbery of a Dust shop this week...but this one has got to be the most gruesome."

"W-What exactly happened?..." Yang took notice of the elephant in front of them: the front entrance, which was supposed to have a glass door propped open, was completely gone, replaced with tiny shards and rusted, almost microscopic particles of metal on the ground. Inside, every Dust container had been sucked dry, and the crystals gone. The bookshelves on the other side of the store were now sawdust among dissolved books that had the consistency and texture of tissue paper. The cameras that were supposed to be watching _whatever_ had caused this looked decayed and destroyed, as well as the computer at the front desk that they connected to.

Yang and the others noticed a few policemen and a doctor behind the desk looking down on something, the doctor in particular having a disgusting look on her face while her coworkers tried their best to look away. She didn't want to see what they were looking at, but she and the rest of her classmates had a good idea of _what_ it was. The detective confirmed their suspicions.

"Breaking and entering, robbery, and _murder_ of a soon-to-be senior citizen. The man had about two months left until his retirement...the way he went out was revolting…"

The six students of Beacon fell silent. This was more than just a petty robbery. This was a killing of a human, the worst criminal act. Whoever, or whatever did this needed to be brought to justice, but… "The bastard got rid of any footage of himself in the act, and since it was late in the night there were no witnesses. The only thing we have to go on is the stolen Dust and all the decayed crap in there...and considering it's _decayed_ , there's not much to analyze."

Ruby looked down, not wanting to stare at the horror before her. Just moments ago they were joking and talking happily about the Vytal Festival, and now...they suddenly felt like they just stepped into something that they didn't ask for. She noticed her brother, whose eyes were wide open at the decayed doorway and items in the former shop. His fists, which would normally be clenched in anger in situations like this, were open and...shaking, presumably in fear. The crimsonette gasped lightly. "I-Izuku, are you okay?..."

The huntsman-in-training ignored her, his left hand closing into a fist as his head lowered, his wild forest green hair covering his eyes. "Officer, let me in."

"Rose…" Todoroki murmured. He narrowed his eyes at his teammate, knowing something was up with him.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that, kid." The man stated simply. "Don't you see this line?"

"I think I might know what happened." Izuku said. Viridescent sparks of electricity popped around him. "Let me in, _please_. I have gloves, so I won't be contaminating any evidence."

"..." The detective thought about this for a moment. Protocol said that he wasn't allowed to let civilians in, under any circumstance. But seeing the desperativity of the situation, and the fire behind the kid's eyes… "Fine, but make it quick. My boss will get pissed at me if he finds out I brought a kid onto the crime scene." He let Izuku pass under the yellow tape, and immediately the huntsman marched up to the doorway, kneeled down and picked up a small heap of rust and shards of glass.

"Careful, Izuku…" Ruby said, but at this point she wasn't certain her brother could hear her. He looked, for one of the first times in his life, dead serious about all of this. It...really put her off guard.

It was the first time the two siblings haven't been in sync with each other. The dissonance was eerily off-putting. _Deku isn't usually like this…_

Ruby and the others watched in stunned silence as the green huntsman moved on to the interior of the room. Leaving the adults to deal with the body, he noticed something that stood out among the rubble and debris in the shop: a gun, placed in a zip-locked bag by one of the detectives. However, the gun wasn't normal at all. Rather, the barrel looked...melted. Chipped, decayed, shattered, whatever word came to Izuku's mind it seemed to fit the description. It wasn't 100% gone, but...the damage was clear. There was no way that gun could fire another round, at least.

Izuku picked up the bag, bringing it to one of the officers in the room (whom the detective up front had to tell him he was temporarily allowed). "Was this the owner's?"

"Correct," The officer said, "His old shop had been broken into not too long ago, so when he moved locations to here he brought some protection for safety, but…" He gestured to the melted gun, "...clearly it wasn't enough."

"Has this been fingerprinted?"

"Yes," The policeman stated professionally, "but the prints don't match anyone on record."

"I see…" Deku put his hand up to his chin and thought for a moment. His eyes suddenly widened, as if a revelation had washed over him. "What about the intensity of the prints? Like...doesn't the blacklight show how much the person pressed down onto the material?"

"Well, yes…" He said, "The thumb and three of the fingers seemed to be pressing down quite hard, but...the pinky only had shallow prints."

Izuku dropped the bag like a bombshell had been dropped on him. After the policeman shouted a "Hey!" at him, the student of Beacon turned around and made a sudden proposition: "I think I got it."

"Whoever this guy was, he first entered the shop peacefully, but when he threatened the owner, presumably with the threat of robbery, the owner reacted by pulling out this firearm." He picked the decayed pistol back up, showing it off to not only the officers in the room (who were now taking notes), but inadvertently to his teammates as well. "I think he'd make such a rash decision because he had been robbed before and didn't want to take any chances."

He walked up to the front desk, which had broken and shattered glass all over the area, and an obvious dead body that the police had covered with a tarp. "Judging by what happened here, I'm sure there was some sort of struggle. But, looking at the glass that's been broken into pieces too small for a bullet to make, as well as the decayed bookshelves and stolen Dust…he must have broken the owner's weapon, killed him, then proceeded to destroy the cameras and computers before laying waste to this place and taking the Dust."

"But…" The policeman added, "How would he have been able to do this in such a short amount of time?"

"It's simple…" Izuku murmured, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The suspect's Semblance...is...is…!"

* * *

"Rose, can you tell me what that was all about?" Shoto inquired as his classmate exited the crime scene with a gloomy look on his face. The expression Izuku made took Todoroki aback; normally it'd be him that makes a grim look, not the normally jovial Izuku.

The student in question blinked his way out of his trance as he pivoted his head either way. Team RWBY was gone, and only Shoto was there waiting for him. "Uh...um, first, where the heck did our sisters and Blake go?"

The white-redhead sighed, "I wasn't listening in on their conversation fully," he stated, "but from what I could tell one of the spectators beside them said it might have been the White Fang that caused this."

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed. "The White Fang, huh?"

He didn't hear about this terroristic and borderline extremist group until well into middle school. From what he gathered, the White Fang were a leftover band of faunus that were still unsatisfied after the Faunus Rights Revolution, and therefore continued their quest for equality. At first, they were a peaceful organization, but after Ghira Belladonna retired the White Fang was taken over by Sienna Khan, who opted for a more...physical approach.

Deku never liked the idea of war, especially when it's unjust. The slaughtering of humans and faunus over a simple cosmetic difference seemed irrational and frankly flat out stupid. Still, though, he wondered why Team RWBY, a team made up of human teenagers, would cause them to be so riled up about a political issue like that. "Why'd that cause them to leave?"

"Weiss and Blake have extremely different opinions on the matter, it seems." Todoroki said as the two began walking from the destroyed Dust Shop and the docks, towards the general direction of Beacon Academy. "Blake thinks they're all misguided and need a more diplomatic approach and a stronger central control, and that the actions they cause now aren't because they want to, but because they're forced to."

"Oh…" To be frank, Izuku had no reply to this. Yes, he found it stupid. The mere thought of hating someone just because " _Oh look, you have a tail and I don't. That makes you different, screw you"_ seemed unwarranted in any progressive society. He's even surprised it existed in the first place.

But alas, it does, and the lives it took, the emotional weight it's put on many and the political and economic damages it has created seemed to have driven humanity (that being Humans as well as Faunus) farther and farther apart. _And there I thought Grimm were our only enemy._ "...What did your sister think?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"...She thinks that the White Fang are an extremist group of destructive terrorists that deserve the death sentence for their actions."

"Th-that's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"Well, you try living your life constantly being harassed by spiteful, hate-filled people that want nothing to do with you other than wanting to see you suffer because of something different about you."

Izuku stopped in his tracks. His eyes darted to the back of Todoroki's head, who was about to turn around and tell him to keep walking, as there were people passing them and they were slowing the flow of traffic. "You said that rather quickly…" He muttered, but Shoto heard him clear as day.

The Schnee shrugged it off and took a few steps forward before replying, "Yeah? Well, that's her life."

"You two are siblings a year apart. That wasn't just her life. It was _yours._ "

That was when Shoto's strut screeched to a halt as well. He turned, slowly, and met Izuku's eyes with his narrowed irises, "What are you trying to say?" He said, under-toned with subtle threat in his voice.

"I'm _saying_ that Weiss and, presumably you, hate the White Fang despite doing the exact same thing they're doing. What even caused you to hate your family in the first place? You were in a multi-million lien mansion, with all the amenities a child could ask for! So why?...Why are you-"

"If it had everything I could ask for, I wouldn't have left. But here I am, at Beacon." Izuku's pained expression shifted to a small gasp, as if those words made him realize something. "I hated life there. Weiss as well. We both hated our father and our brother, who despised our want to become huntsmen. Our mother became absent halfway through my childhood, and...well, our sister left us during our lowest point."

"I…" Deku's fists clenched. He didn't expect Todoroki to suddenly be telling him his entire life story, just like that. Honestly, when comparing his life to Shoto's, he didn't have it nearly as bad. _Two loving sisters and a father..._ He was fortunate. Todoroki...wasn't. _If he were in a comic book, or a TV show...he'd definitely be the main character._ "I'm sorry…"

"It's fine." Todoroki, again, said with an unnatural haste, "What's done is done." He turned back around and continued his walk, which gave Deku the message of " _Don't push this topic on me any further"_ , so he obliged and silently began walking next to him. "My point is, despite knowing what the White Fang is dealing with, I can never agree with _how_ they're dealing with it. They're hurting innocents, they're looting, and stealing, and acting as a terrorist group rather than a diplomatic force."

"So...does that mean you agree with Weiss?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah…" Shoto said, but the word trailed off as thoughts of his past with Weiss came back to him...

 _Weiss, although looking cold and battered, was just standing there in the falling snow and a breezy wind. Her Myrtenaster was clipped to her dress, but she seemed as if she wasn't done fighting. Her eyes were lowered to the ground, not facing her brother and looking very...unnatural to him. "Are you...alright?"_

" _I'm fine." She bluntly stated, shouldering her brother out of the way as she made her way to Winter. "Let's get washed up, I'm hungry."_

 _It wasn't. He knew that for a fact. "Weiss." The Schnee stopped abruptly. Winter was already inside, unknowing of what they were about to say. "What's wrong with you?"_

" _Nothing!" She was practically shouting at this point. "Nothing's wrong..._ at all." _She marched to the front and and closed it shut-leaving Todoroki in the cold by himself._

"It's apparently one of the only things we agree on anymore…" Todoroki murmured under his breath. Izuku could barely hear his voice, much less the words he spoke.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." The white-redhead sighed. No way was he going to open that barrel of worms right now…"I think we've been getting extremely off topic."

"Yeah, no kidding." Izuku scoffed, "What did we start with, again?"

Shoto frowned, more so than usual. "The crime scene you just walked out of a few minutes ago. Why'd you go in there in the first place? What did you see?"

"..." Izuku mentally facepalmed towards himself. How could he forget something that important? _Well, I guess it doesn't matter, I remember now…_

The dilapidated shop. The disintegrated door, the shattered, tiny pieces of glass. The bookshelves that looked like they had been thrown into a wood chipper. The melted gun. The dead body.

For some reason, all of that evidence had clicked something in his mind. "I had another one again, just as we were walking up to that store...a memory."

For an instant, Todoroki froze. The next moment, he leaned in with a serious look on his face. "Tell me about what you remember. In detail."

* * *

"A Semblance that decays?"

"Yeah. That's the only thing I could come up with. It's...terrifying, really. With just a touch, they could disintegrate your body as if it was nothing…"

Izuku and Shoto were back in their dorms, late in the night. Nora and Pyrrha were already sleeping, but the two decided to talk about what Deku had saw outside in the halls, when most, if not all, of the students were resting.

What the youngest Rose deduced was rather simple: A man broke into the Dust Shop, killed the owner, lay waste to the place and stole all of available Dust. How he had gotten away with something like this in such a brief amount of time was beyond him, though. _It's almost like he would have to teleport around to make such a quick escape…_ "According to the police," Izuku continued, "They were called in on reports of screaming, and when they arrived minutes later they found the whole place in shambles. It takes a while to drain an entire vat of Dust, let alone multiple at once."

"What are you suggesting, then?" Shoto questioned, his head slightly tilted to the left which accentuated his scar, "That there were multiple people involved?"

"It's the only conclusion I could come up with." Deku sighed. This whole case was racking his brain. And he wasn't even supposed to be sticking his nose in something like this, but…

 _Isn't it a hero's job to meddle in places they don't belong?_

Those words. Ever since it randomly appeared in his mind it never seemed to waver back into his subconscious. It was like it was always there, telling him what to do. It was an ideal: an ideal that Izuku agreed with but still had trouble wrapping his mind around. "My theory, is that is correlates with the robbery of the same shop not too long ago. I should know, because my sister and I were there."

"Ruby was with you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you think we should interrogate her? Find out any additional information on this situation?" The white-redhead reasoned. Izuku nodded, a small smile growing on his face, which seemed to alleviate at least some of the stress he was currently feeling.

"Yeah, that seems like the best move. Good job, _Icyhot_."

Todoroki was quick to reply, with cold anger in his voice as well, "What did you just call me?..."

"Icyhot. Yang calls you that all the time, well, at least when it's just our two teams together." Shoto gave him a strange look, his anger satiated but his thought of _why_ still fresh in his mind. "What? Is that a _bad_ thing? Or…"

"I don't like your tone…"

Suddenly Shoto found himself in a position that he has never been literally his entire life. He's been harassed, bullied, but never…

Teased. "Is it because you _like_ it when she calls you that, hm? Gotta thing for my sis-" Needless to say, Izuku found himself getting borderline strangled by Todoroki's right hand, ice quickly appearing and growing around his throat. "Agh! O-Okay! O-Okay I get it!..."

"Hm." Todoroki silently let go, and Deku found himself choking and coughing, falling onto his knees as he pressed both hands on his neck to melt the ice. The white-redhead gave no signs of helping him up and kept walking towards Team RWBY's door. "For the record, I only let her call me that because I'm scared of what she'll do to me if I didn't."

"Oh, so you _do_ have a thing fo-" Izuku then proceeded to eat a flat icy stalagmite right to the face.

"One thing you should know about me, Rose…" Todoroki stated as he grabbed the door handle to RWBY's dorm. "I'm not one for showing emotion." He pushed the door open, and-

"Do you want to know _why_ I despise the White Fang? Because they're nothing but a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

 _Crap_. He felt the tension erupt out of the room and slam him in the face like the air from an engine turbine. Ruby and Yang silently watched just in front of the doorway as his sister and Blake had a...heated conversation, put lightly.

Suddenly Shoto felt like a thousand tons of pure fear of even moving was weighed onto him. One misstep and suddenly the two might turn on him. Luckily, he wasn't spotted yet, but it was mostly because of what the Belladonna had blurted out in anger:

"Well, maybe we're just tired of being pushed around!"

 _Oh man…_ Todoroki felt the sudden urge to back away. Yes, those words of "meddling in places he doesn't belong" has always stuck in his head, but…

He knew how some of those attempts ended.

" _Weiss, what's wrong with you?"_

" _Nothing! Nothing's wrong...at all."_

Unfortunately, a clumsy Rose behind him squealed in pain as Todoroki's cleated boots dug into his feet. "Ow! Watch where you're going!" Izuku peered his head out from behind Shoto, taking notice of Team RWBY, whose eyes were on them. Sadly, he didn't notice those eyes were not filled with amusement, but rather concern and annoyance. "What's up? You guys kind of took off after I left the...crime...scene…"

" _Blake thinks they're all misguided and need a more diplomatic approach and a stronger central control, and that the actions they cause now aren't because they want to, but because they're forced to."_

 _Oh no..._

" _Maybe we're just tired of being pushed around!"_

 _So that's it, isn't it?_ Blake's melancholic and tense stature were dead giveaways. Once her anger subsided, a look of regret passed by the Belladonna's face. _So she is one, after all_.

Izuku took a breath, taking his state of mind and equalizing it with the vibe in the room. Slowly, cautiously stepping forward, he asked, "What's going on, here? Weiss, care to explain?"

"I-" Before she could even start, Blake bursted out of the room and down the hall faster than Ruby could dream of.

"Blake! Wait!" Ruby was the first to get on to her feet and yell after her, but at the rate she was going Blake was too far for her to even hear her. "Come back!..."

The crimsonette huntress fell to her knees. "What now…?" She sighed.

Shoto looked over to Weiss, the latter of which still having a cross expression towards the doorway her teammate just bolted out of. "Weiss…"

"Oh shut it, I don't want to hear it from you." The elder Schnee shot to him, "Tell me you don't feel the same about all of this! The White Fang took from _our_ family, _our_ livelihood! Face it: She was in the wrong!"

"My livelihood was already taken away, _Weiss_." Todoroki growled, his fists clenched. Subconsciously, the female Schnee took hold of Myrtenaster. The last time they had fought of a disagreement was only months ago, and it evidently would not be the last. "Our _family_ either did one of two things to me: Abandon or harass. You weren't any better. Retrospectively I am _just_ like those Faunus: wanting a better life and wanting to live like equals to their peers, but I never got that!"

"Well, maybe if you just opened up to me like the _brother_ I wanted rather than being cold-shouldered to me all the time and showing off that...that _stupid_ Semblance of yours, then _maybe_ you could have gotten what you wanted!"

"I was acting cold shouldered? All you did was ignore me!"

"Because YOU were treating my family like garbage!"

The dorm of Team RWBY had a new type of pressure overtaking the room, and if Izuku could describe it in a word it would be _cold_. The two Schnee's of Beacon Academy had finally butted heads, and Deku, Yang and Ruby felt like all of their anger that had built up over the years for each other had finally snapped. They wish they could say something, but…

They really couldn't. When Izuku had come into the sisters' lives, it was all for the better. Taiyang's depression over Summer's death had lifted enough for him to smile again, Ruby had a baby brother, as well as Yang now having two siblings to watch over and protect. As they grew older, they became more and more inseparable. And once Izuku attained his Semblance, they were also unbeatable on the battlefield. It wasn't the same for Shoto and Weiss, however.

In fact, it seemed like they were the antithesis of their near-perfect childhood, and the two Schnee's instead grew separate from their differences.

The three non-arguers could do nothing but watch as Todoroki and Weiss tore each other apart.

"Yes, I loathe our family. Our father became distant, Whitley became a stuck-up snob...our mother disappeared from our lives...but ever since I knew you it just seemed like you were counting down the days until you left, just like...just like Winter did…"

"Weiss…"

"No!" The Ice Princess unsheathed Myrtenaster and held up the tip to Shoto's neck, instantly holding her younger brother in place. "I don't...I don't want to hear it! You made my life a living hell! You were the only person my age that I could possibly talk to, but you always seemed two steps ahead of me: In academics _and_ in combat! And it's all because of your Semblance! If only Father wasn't forced to take you in, then _maybe_ I'd be living a better life!"

…

That line stabbed Todoroki in the heart like a spear made of ice. In the space of a second, Shoto grabbed the blade of Myrtenaster and brought it into the air, away from harming him and so he'd have a clear view of his sister.

He tried to say something, _anything_. No words came out.

But something else did. Izuku was the first to notice it. _Is...is he…_

The first drop was tiny, making no sound as it bounced onto Todoroki's boot. The second fell into the carpet, being absorbed into the fabric and out of sight.

Ruby was next to notice something, "U-Uh…" She hesitantly pointed at where Shoto was holding Myrtenaster's blade.

It was _steaming._ The metal of Myrtenaster was giving off a faded orange glow.

The white-redhead let go instantly. He brought his hand down to his face, staring at the open palm that was mildly orange-yellow from heat emission. "I-I'm sorry…" Suddenly, he turned heel with his head lowered and stormed out the door and into INPT's dorm without a word to anyone.

Weiss lowered her weapon, the hot tip ever so slightly touching the point in the carpet where Todoroki's teardrop fell. Steam hissed into the air, being the only noise that was present in the room for quite a while.

Minutes passed. Everyone was in stunned silence.

Weiss was finally the first to speak. She sheathed her weapon and undid her side ponytail, letting her long bangs fall over her eyes. "Get out. All of you. Just sleep in the other room for all I care."

Ruby's light voice tried its best to break through the tension, but it was like a butter knife trying to cut its way through a steel wall. "But Weiss-"

"Save it, Ruby. Just...let me be tonight. We'll find Blake in the morning." She walked over to the bathroom, the sound of the showerhead being turned on being a clear indication that she wanted them to go.

"O-Okay…" The young huntress' normally cheerful face was gone, and so was the quippy, sunny air of Yang's. The two left to join INPT, with Izuku not being far behind.

Deku took one more look at RWBY's dorm. The bunk beds that they had made were a clear sign of dedication towards each other, but... _I hope they can maintain the connections they've made_.

One thing was for certain though.

 _Sometimes...butting your head where you don't belong isn't a good thing._ He thought back to Shoto and Weiss' battle just a minute ago, their screams of desperate hate being thrown at each other while all he could do was watch in vain as they ripped each other to shreds. _I can never involve myself in that…_

 _I just hope they can make up._ He shut the door gently. _Just watching them for a minute was draining...I wonder...is that how they always felt around each other?_

* * *

Despite the water being turned all the way to the red, it still felt chillingly cold as the fast-moving liquid hissed against her skin. It felt like it was boiling, and yet, still ice cold.

The brief moments she usually took when showering now dilated into long, arduous minutes as she struggled to even get shampoo in her hair. Now that the water and the absence of outside voices had finally calmed her temper...she began to regret kicking out Ruby and Yang, even their brother.

Yes, she did find Ruby childish. Yes, she did find Yang annoying. Yes, Izuku did almost see her stark naked if it wasn't for a towel. But the way she harshly snapped at them to leave was...unfounded, at best. She made a mental note to apologize to them tomorrow, although she was certain this evening would not be forgotten for a long time by any of them.

How did it all start, again? Right...Blake.

Blake Belladonna. From the moment she had become teammates with the Schnee, Weiss instantly found her to be an anomaly. She was silent, unless you spoke to her first, which she admitted was normal for some people to do, but...the way she carried herself, both in battle and in regular social interactions, made her seem awfully introverted and mysterious.

It didn't help that apparently she had no official education until she entered Beacon Academy. It was like she had acquired all that anti-Grimm combat skills all on her own. Weiss had to endure years of harsh training from Winter, being constantly put down and frowned upon by Jacques and Whitley and outclassed by Shoto, until she finally had enough skill to put down one of the strongest Grimm in existence-a Ghast clad in knight's armor-, and finally be permitted to enter Beacon. She had a scar on her left eye to prove it all, too.

She had to climb up a steep mountain full of icy spikes and jagged rocks to get to where she was. From what she knew until literally minutes ago, Blake seemed like she was already atop that mountain.

But no, Blake wasn't the mysterious, overskilled outcast she thought she was.

She was even more anomalous.

And she was a _faunus_ , of all things.

The mere thought of Blake hiding this huge secret, for what was now _months_ at this point, infuriated her! Why would she hide that in the first place? Why reveal it when everyone was so tense? If she had a reveal like that hiding behind her bow, Weiss wondered if she had anything else stashed behind those catlike eyes of hers.

She didn't know what to exactly think of it quite yet. Yes, she was upset, but...not at the fact that Blake was a faunus, or even that she was a former member of the White Fang (although, she would question her about that notion later). But...why didn't she tell her and her teammates about it sooner?

Weiss sighed as the picked up the conditioner. Those thoughts of her dark-clothed, dark-past-ridden teammate would have to be saved for later. She had a more...pressing matter at hand.

 _Shoto_ …her breath hitched at the mere thought of his name.

It's been a long time since they had had an argument that heated, let alone an argument at all. Heck, she wasn't even sure if they had even talked to each other in the past few months. Ever since her brother had iced over the Death Stalker during the Semblance Assessment months ago...he had gone from distant to her to being at the level of "calls on the scroll but person on other end immediately ignores" levels of negligence. She was his sister, for heaven's sake!

Then again...that title of _sister_ has lost meaning within the Schnee family. Heck, even the word _family_ has begun to fall apart.

It's been more than fourteen years, at this point. The day when one of the Schnee's butlers, Klein Sieben, had found a child, unconscious in the freezing weather with nothing but a t-shirt and shorts, at the foot of the Schnee's manor. He had no idea where he had came from on that cold winter's day; heck, according to him he had just checked the front porch merely hours ago to assure the pristine statues in the front had stayed pristine through the minor blizzard.

That child would have had to appear between those times. The thought was scary, as a kid in that little clothing in weather that cold was concerning, but plausible.

Klein took him in, informing the other maids and butlers of the child and to tell Jacques immediately. He was placed in a warm bath, his body temperature rising to normal temperatures and his breaths rising and falling at a constant rate. After that, he was placed in a vacant bedroom next to Weiss'.

Now they played the waiting game. During this time, Jacques had let out an announcement throughout the Kingdom of Atlas that they had found a 5-year-old child laying on their doorstep, with prominent half-white, half-red hair. After a day or two with no responses, the lack of a family calling him theirs puzzled him.

Then he awoke. Every member of the Schnee family was present when the child opened their eyes. Weiss remembered it as if it was just yesterday that it happened...

* * *

 _Nine years ago, January 11th…(POV: Shoto)_

The light of the sun streamed through the giant window panes of the Schnee Manor and onto his face. It was uncomfortable, so he grimaced, his eyes still shut.

The sensation of waking up had always felt warm to him, like he was floating up from the cold, watery depths of sleep towards the surface of consciousness. Through the window, he could faintly hear gusts of wind as they sped past the glass.

But one noise was above all else. Whispering. Several, if not dozens of individual voices all spoke simultaneously, making a raucous noise in the child's sensitive ears. He had a feeling it wouldn't stop until his eyes popped open.

And so he did.

And he was met with many faces of surprise and concern. He didn't know what to think. Just a minute ago, he was reveling in the liminal state of half-asleep and half-awake, but now all that comfort quickly switched to red flags in his mind. Where was he? How come there were so many people?

And how come...how...come…

What was he talking about?

He gave a light gasp. He didn't remember what he did last night.

He didn't know what he did the entirety of yesterday. Or the day before. Or the past month. And _year_.

There was an obvious chunk of his memory just…completely erased. Therefore, all he had to go off of was this new information: men and women in fancy clothes staring at him like he was a crashed alien. "Um...where…" His light voice spoke, slightly raspy from the lack of talking, "Where am I?..."

"You're in the Schnee Manor, kid." A rather tall man took center stage, both in figure and in placement. He was on the child's right side, standing slightly in front of a woman holding a toddler in her arms. Besides them were two girls: one looked almost adolescent while the other only looked a little older than himself. The man, whose brown slick-backed hair was graying out, took a knee beside him. "Tell us...what's your name?"

"Um…" He felt like he had to dig within the deepest pools of memories within his mind to pull out just his _name_...and despite being so young, he knew that something like that was cause for some sort of alarm. He was five, but he wasn't stupid.

After a minute of thinking, he finally got it. "Shoto. Shoto...Todoroki."

* * *

Those first few days with Shoto were both the weirdest and most exciting days of Weiss' life. Since Shoto had no family of any kind to be brought back to, and since the Schnee family had the resources to support another child, Jacques decided (read: convinced by Willow and Weiss) to adopt the child into the family.

And thus, Shoto Todoroki Schnee was his name.

Weiss started to feel the water run cold, so she shut it off and began drying herself. The bedroom adjacent to her was dead silent, and the lack of noise sent a feeling of guilt crawling up her damp back. Maybe she was too harsh, to Blake and to her brother. Maybe...

No, it was too early to apologize, nor does she expect them to come into her room and prostrate for forgiveness. The injuries from the arguments she had gone through were still raw and fresh, and the hot shower did nothing but amplify the pain.

She needed rest. She needed time to think about all of this.

Weiss Schnee, now well into her nightly routine, dried her hair, changed into pajamas, and went into her bed without a word, but...

A single sniffle echoed throughout the empty dorm of RWBY before the motion-based lights shut off.

* * *

"Sun...are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Pfft, are you kidding? I don't think there's a Faunus in existence that _hasn't_ heard of them."

Blake Belladonna sipped from her cup of tea as she listened to Sun Wukong rant. She was grateful that she had run into another one of her kind this far from Menagerie, but…

The more she thought about it, the more she thought that running away from her team was a bad idea. Sure, at the time, getting away as fast as humanly possible to escape scrutiny from what she was hiding under that black bow may have _seemed_ like the favorable decision, but now... _what will Weiss and the rest think of me now?_

A coward that hides information from her allies? An untrustworthy anomaly of Team RWBY? They certainly could think both of those things about her, but for right now... _talking with him is my only option._

She eyed Sun up and down as he talked. At first, she only thought of him as some monkey-tailed miscreant, but when she had nowhere to go, he was the only route of escape for her. Why was that?

Blake still had to figure that out for herself, but at least she has someone _to talk to_ in the first place. Back in her youth, consoling with someone about her problems was unheard of for her, which is part of the reason why she keeps to herself nowadays. But now that she had just spilled two secrets to people she was supposed to share a bond and trust with, she was in a situation that she had never been in before.

I guess that's why she's here. To calm down, to escape. She picked up her tea again, and rolled her eyes as Sun used his tail to pick up his.

"I think that they're dumb holier-than-thou freaks and terrorists that use force to do whatever the hell they want, and I don't think that siding with them will help anyone. Buncha idiots, if you ask me."

"I was...once one of them."

Blake had no reaction as Sun suddenly found it hard to force his drink down this throat. After clearing it, he exclaimed, "Woah, hold up, _you_ were once a member?"

"That's right...for most of my life, actually. If you said I was born into it, than you wouldn't necessarily be wrong. Since I was able to walk and talk, I've been at the front of every rally and protest in the name of equality among humans and faunus. But, when Sienna Khan took over, I decided to leave."

"Let me guess: her way of doing things was too extreme for you?" Sun's laid-back attitude began to fade, and Blake inwardly relaxed from that gesture. _At least I know that he's taking this seriously…_

"Mhm. So not too long ago I left, and I decided to devote my life to becoming a huntress, which I believe is a much better way to help others realize that we're not powerless. We can be strong and help others, just like humans."

"A bold statement, but something that needed to be said." Sun put his hand on his chin in thought, "Y'know, this reminds me of one of my friends back in Mistral…" Blake raised an eyebrow. So Sun knows someone that's been in a similar situation as her? "He's not on my team, but we've been friends for at least a decade at this point. What I didn't know about him, though, was that his family were White Fang members."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really. It shocked me when he told me, and it surprised me even more that his family was trying to impose their beliefs onto him. So he escaped to Mistral, and entered Haven Academy. You should meet him, he's really cool."

"Sounds like it." To be honest, Blake wasn't paying attention much, only passively nodding her head, until the golden haired monkey faunus said, "Kinda dark and mysterious...a raven faunus, no less, which kinda complements your whole cat vibe. He also reads a lot, likes to eat seafood, and tends not to talk to his friends too much. Kind of an...introvert, if you ask me."

"Huh." Blake blinked. "Sounds interesting." Really what she actually thought was, _Wow, this guy sounds just like me._

"He also has this weird Semblance where he calls upon a freaky monster thing that has a mind of its own."

 _Okay, maybe not_ that _much like me._

"Well, anyways, back to your story." Sun pushed himself off the back of his chair and leaned in a little. "You said you left the White Fang and went to Beacon?"

"Yeah...well, there's not much to tell there. I'm right here, a criminal hiding in plain sight, away from any discrimination with the help of this black bow atop my head." She pointed to the item in question, which moved back and forth, signifying something underneath that wasn't just fabric: rather, a second pair of ears.

"So…" Blake closed her eyes. She had a feeling what Sun was going to say next, but it didn't make the eventual sting of the words hurt any less.

"Have you told your friends about any of this?"

* * *

"Blakeeeeeee! Blakeeeee! C'mon, Todoroki, yell with me!"

"No."

"Gah, you're such a party pooper…Blakeee!"

All the Schnee did was silently shrug as the second youngest student in Beacon continued their cries for their teammate, _while_ carrying the youngest on her back. Yep, you heard me correctly. Izuku Rose was passed out on Ruby's shoulders, and Shoto still seemed reluctant to ask why he was out like a light.

Ruby, however, did notice Todoroki's weird glances at her, so she decided to put that mystery to bed. "Oh, right." She turned around and stopped yelling for the Belladonna. She felt Izuku shift on her back, and his leg pushed against the sheathed Crescent Rose that subsequently dug into her side. She winced and grit her teeth. _Ow…_

"You okay?" Shoto asked.

"Yeah! Perfectly-gah-fine!" She elbowed Izuku's leg away from her weapon. "Yeah, so I know you kinda turned in early because of...that…" She felt the air turn cold after that last part, and the white-redhead's eyes dug into her's as they narrowed a beam into her soul. Something tells her that he didn't want to be reminded of the...incident, last night, so changing the subject was probably-maybe- _extremely_ recommended. "BUT Izuku was a _whole_ different story…"

"And...that would be?"

* * *

 _Last night…_

POV: Izuku

The door to INPT shut behind him with a soft creak. Izuku Xiao Rose sighed as he gazed around the dorm, which was now filled with people. With Weiss kicking Yang and Ruby out for the night, the dorm that was supposed to only carry four students now held six, which would make anyone a little claustrophobic.

Nora was fast asleep, she apparently didn't hear a lick of what was going on across the hall from them. Pyrrha was awake, albeit a little groggy, but was doing whatever she could to make two makeshift beds for their temporary guests.

Izuku could tell that Todoroki was awake in his bed, but his lack of movement and the area around him being unnaturally cold probably meant talking to him wouldn't be a good idea, so he left his thoughts to his own.

Yang and Ruby were sitting cross-legged on the floor, in the center of the room. They were quiet, a trait that was almost never expressed in the Xiao Long-Rose family. It was clear that what had just happened had hit them all like a freight train, and now that it had hit them and passed they were left, still on the ground, unable to move and only able to think.

The air in his room was musty and cold, and not just from Todoroki subconsciously activating his Semblance out of anger in the corner. The vibe reminded Izuku of many emotions: confusion, concern, anger, sadness, etc., but not one trace of any positive traits anywhere. _If only Nora was awake,_ Izuku thought. _Maybe she'd be able to lighten the mood a little._

After standing in front of the door for a few moments, Deku realized that he should probably undress and get ready for bed. He gestured to the bathroom at Pyrrha, who soundlessly nodded her head to give him the go-ahead. He took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

All he took was one step, and blinked.

When he opened his eyes…

"What... _What the heck?!_ "

Instead of a cramped, noiseless dorm with six people all crammed inside, Deku watched as one, two, ten, twenty people crossed his field of vision, all carrying bags with all sorts of items within them, from clothes to toys to beauty products to food. A small group of kids ran past the crowd and jumped onto an indoor jungle gym, with benches around the perimeter with napping adults who needed a break from shopping for a few minutes.

The semi-cylindrical glass ceiling lit up the entire space, showing a massive three-story building with all different kinds of stores, some that sold clothes, others that sold games or candy. There must have been dozens of shops in just the sector Izuku found himself in, and he wasn't even sure if it stretched on for longer or not.

Well, one thing was clear. _I'm not in Beacon Academy anymore...where am I?_

He turned his head. There was nothing but people, criss-crossing along the common area to get to their desired places. It was like a maze of human bodies, and even though he hadn't even taken a step Deku was already lost among the sea. But then-

"Oh, it's someone from - High! Cool!"

"H-Huh-?!"

"Let me have your autograph!" Suddenly, Izuku saw a black sleeve envelope his neck, pulling him close to...whoever it was. He had no idea, not only who this stranger (who doesn't know the definition of personal space) was, but where he was in the first place. The closeness shocked him, and his first instinct was to get out of his grasp and run away, hopefully to somewhere he knew.

Unfortunately, that gut-feeling of escaping was correct. But it was already too late, the man had him in his grasp.

"You're the one who got injured pretty badly at the -, correct?"

"Wh-What're you-?"

"And weren't you also one of those guys who ran into the - during the - Incident? That's so cool!"

"I have no idea what you're-!"

"Man, I seriously cannot believe it...I can't believe that I'd get to see _you_ again in a place like this."

The way the man said "you" sent alarm bells ringing throughout Izuku's body. Chills rocketed from his neck down his entire body, freezing him in place. He was petrified, only able to dart his eyes around and slightly pivot his head. And what was worse: he noticed that no one was giving whomever was trapping him a concerned look, as if apathy was written all over the predicament he was in.

"It kinda makes me think that there's something bigger going on...maybe something like fate-" The huntsman-in-training gasped loudly as he felt four cold digits grab his neck, slowly putting pressure on his windpipe. He struggled to breathe, but that was the least of his problems. "-or destiny. But from your perspective, I guess we haven't met since the attack on -, huh?"

He looked up, his eyes blocking out any outside stimuli, zeroed in on the man's hooded head as it slowly turned to face his. Sickly-looking skin, scars blemishing his lips, bloodshot eyes, and wild, unkempt pale blue hair that was half-hidden by the black hood he wore. This was the look of a crazed individual, one that Izuku had hoped he wouldn't have to see in his entire life. But here he was, getting choked to death by one, who was unnervingly smiling at his suffering, like it was sport for him to see children get hurt.

"Why don't we have some tea or something, Izuku -?"

 _How does he…_

 _Know me?_

"Act natural, as if I'm an old friend of yours. Don't try and make a scene; before the authorities even come I could kill you and twenty other people. Calm down. I just want to have a talk."

 _Talk, my ass!_ Deku's arms grabbed hold of the man's, trying to pry the hand off of his throat. He closed his eyes, pulling with all his might, but for some reason, Full Cowl wouldn't activate. It was as if it was locked from him, either physically or just mentally. Either way, in angered him. _How come my Semblance won't work?!_

He opened his eyes, and a gasp made its way out of his mouth again. This time, he found himself and the man sitting on a bench, a few dozen yards away from where they just were. His hands still tried to free him, but-

"Try and do something funny, and this last finger will touch your neck." He waved his pinky in the air, taunting Deku for his powerlessness. "Once it does, you'll begin crumbling from the skin of your throat. You'll turn to Dust in less than a minute."

 _Wait…_

* * *

He walked up to the front desk, which had broken and shattered glass all over the area, and an obvious dead body that the police had covered with a tarp. "Judging by what happened here, I'm sure there was some sort of struggle. But, looking at the glass that's been broken into pieces too small for a bullet to make, as well as the decayed bookshelves and stolen Dust…he must have broken the owner's weapon, killed him, then proceeded to destroy the cameras and computers before laying waste to this place and taking the Dust."

"But…" The policeman added, "How would he have been able to do this in such a short amount of time?"

"It's simple…" Izuku murmured, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The suspect's Semblance...is...is…!"=

…

"A Semblance that decays?"

"Yeah. That's the only thing I could come up with. It's...terrifying, really. With just a touch, they could disintegrate your body as if it was nothing…"

* * *

 _Was...was that him?!_

 _Is this the man that we've been looking for?!_

"D-Deku?..."

 _What now?!_ His pupils darted to the source of the female voice, and sure enough it was exactly what he expected: a girl, medium-length brown hair, fair skin, round eyes. She was holding small plushie of a frog in her hand, which Deku found a little peculiar.

In any other situation, Izuku would think she's pretty cute, but…

Obviously, there were more pressing matters at hand. More specifically, the hand that is _pressing_ down onto his windpipe and crushing it like it was tissue paper. The girl looked worried for him, and he at first thought that maybe she was just a stranger passing by, _but she said "Deku"..._ He deduced quickly, _that means she knows me, but how come I don't know her?! I haven't seen someone like this my entire life!_

"Is that a...friend?...No, it can't be…" Izuku felt his choker's head loom over towards the girl, his ever-present wide smile and bloodshot eyes aimed directly at her, like a murderer eyeing down a potential victim.

 _She needs to get out of here!_ "G-Go! G-G-Get away, whoever you are!" She took a step back at Izuku's last few words.

"'Whoever...you are'...? Deku, it's...me…" She looked even more confused and terrified than before, and even though he felt bad that he didn't know who she was, her life was more important than his apparent amnesia.

"Nevermind that, just run!"

"Get your hands off him…" She muttered, but the sweat rolling down her brow didn't help her confidence. She felt it begin to crumble, as if the man had grabbed ahold of her bravery with his entire hand.

Izuku took a sharp inhale as the hooded figure let go of him quickly and put his hands in the air, as if he was acting surprised. Deku grabbed his neck, finding the mere action of breathing to be a struggle. "Oh, you had a friend with you? I'm sorry for ruining your day with her. I'll be on my way, then." He turned to Izuku, his expression darkening back to what it was before, but this time it wasn't sugar coated with any smiles, just raw, murderous intent. "Follow me, and I'll kill the both of you. I mean that." He stood up and walked away, his hands in his pockets and his black hood covering his face.

The girl came to his side, but Deku still had his eyes locked on the perpetrator. He was about to yell at him about what had happened in the Dust Shop incident last night, but instead... _why isn't my body responding to what I'm doing?!_ He tried moving his mouth. Nothing.

Moving his arms? Nothing. Even the trivial action of blinking? Couldn't even do that. It was as if his body was on autopilot, rejecting any commands his brain tried to give it. _Darn it, come on!_

He spoke, but he had no control over what he had said, like he was looking through an entirely different person's eyes, that just so happened to act, sound, and look like him. "Wait, _Tomura Shigaraki!_ "

 _That's the guy's name?! Tomura...Shigaraki...where have I heard that name before?!_ The girl beside him also jumped at the mention of that name, muttering it under her breath.

His body spoke by itself again, just as Shigaraki stopped and silently turned his head halfway towards him. "What is your master after? What's their game?"

…

Tomura gave a passive shrug, "Who knows? More importantly, I think you should be more careful in the future. Next time we cross paths will most likely be when I've decided to kill you." He walked into the crowd, and within seconds Shigaraki was gone, just another person among the sea of shoppers.

Izuku finally could move by himself again, and took deep breaths to stretch out his throat and to calm down its irritation from being, well, almost crushed like an empty soda can. The girl kneeled down beside him and said, "Deku, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That guy didn't do anything permanently scarring, so I'll be oka-"

"No, I mean, _are you alright?_ " She interrupted, emphasising the last three words. Deku raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"'Whoever you are'...Deku, what's my name?" She pointed to herself, a look of genuine worry crossing her expression and tears forming in her eyes. Deku's brain went from horror to sympathetic in the space of a second. He just...didn't know.

And that scared him. That scared her apparently, too. "N-No...I don't…" Izuku said to her. He inwardly cursed himself for being this ignorant. If he knew, he'd certainly tell her that he knew who she was but...nothing was clicking in his mind. "S-Should I?"

"Deku...don't you…"

"...remember me?"

* * *

The next thing Izuku felt was akin to being just under the surface of water. A cool, liminal state, right between sinking into the darkness of sleep and the air of consciousness. His eyes, crusty from hours of them being closed, slowly began to open up as he felt himself floating back to awareness and onto the waves of reality. Two distinct voices, one light and feminine and one deeper and more aloof came to the forefront of his senses.

He felt the cool breeze drift by his face, the occasional rush of what sounded like a car whiz by him. The faint, distant chatter of people walking by, and the occasional chirping of birds. One thing was for certain: He was outside, even though the last thing he remembered was being in an indoor mall and the _other_ being his dorm room.

Confusion set into him again. _Where am I this time?!_ He twitched his arm. Apparently he had some level of sleep paralysis still, as his body still couldn't move very well.

His sense of hearing was beginning to grow more acute, though. The feminine voice he deciphered to be Ruby's, and the other was most likely Todoroki's, judging by the deeper tone and the lack of wordy sentences.

"Yeah, so after Izuku passed out, the nurse said he was probably just exhausted, sooo...I took him back, changed him and put him in bed. Then this morning, I changed him back into his combat gear and carried him out here, since he'd probably want to come with us. Didn't expect him to be asleep for this long, though...especially since I tried waking him up a lot..."

"Wait, so...you changed his clothes?"

"Um, yeah. I'm his big sister, I'm allowed to do that."

"Uh huh."

"What, do you find that strange, rich boy?"

"..."

"Yeah okay, too soon...wait, why is _that_ the only thing you're focusing on? What about the fact that he's been asleep for about sixteen hours at this point?"

"I've been asleep for sixteen hours?..."

"Yup, you have."

…

 _I wonder if they've noticed yet..._ Todoroki thought, his expression still blank.

…

"Wait-"

"AGH!" His nerves felt like they were shocked awake as feeling came back to him. He jerked backwards and fell off of his sister, backrolling on the concrete and landing in a crouched position. Sweat rolled down his cheek, and his breathing was heavy. It was as if that man's hand was still pressing onto his throat, even now.

That man. "Shigaraki…" His hand felt his neck, and thankfully he didn't feel anything enveloping it. He could finally breathe.

Unfortunately, his back stiffened when he heard Ruby ask, "Who's Shigaraki? Oh yeah, and more importantly-"

 _Smack!_

"OW! What the heck?!" Izuku rubbed the top of his head where the blunt end of Crescent Rose hit him. "What was that for?!"

"You were asleep for _more than_ _half a freaking day!_ Have you been getting enough sleep recently?! Eating a sufficient amount of food?! I got really worried about you, you know; how you collapsed last night without any warning!"

"Hey, I didn't know I'd end up like this! I didn't know what was going to happen!"

"Then what did happen, then?" Ruby inquired, her hands on her hips. Izuku felt another sweat drop; not from Shigararki, but from a look that he has not seen in a long while.

The "big sister" glare. It was a stare that turned him into a gibbering mess that eventually spilled all of the beans on whatever his secret was, but…

 _This time…_ He looked at Todoroki, and Izuku's expression became a little serious as he tapped the ground at certain intervals.

To any oblivious person, it would seem like he was just randomly tapping his feet, but Todoroki knew better.

He listened closely to the beating of Deku's boot. He repeated a word two times: "M-E-M-O-R-Y" in Morse Code.

Shoto silently nodded, understanding what he meant and gesturing back to Ruby, who was still waiting there for a good ten seconds for an answer. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Um...yeah, I was probably just tired."

"Hm…" Ruby stepped up to her little brother, getting right into his face and destroying the meaning of personal space. She gave an analytical look as she peered into Izuku's eyes, a look that he was surprised Ruby was capable of expressing in the first place outside of talking about weapons. "Whelp." _Oh, it's gone now._ Ruby came off of her tiptoes and gave a smirk. "You're hiding something, but I think I'll just interrogate it about you later."

"Why did you have to use the word 'interrogate'?"

"We have other business to attend to." Ruby said, "That being: My teammate is missing, and I need your help!" She out her hand up to block her mouth from Todoroki as she whispered, "All this guy's been doing is basically just following me around. He isn't even helping me look for her!"

"You do realize how loud of a whisperer you are, right?"

"Nobody asked for you opinion, Mr. AlwaysQuiet!" Ruby backed away and cleared her throat. "Anyways...yeah, we've been looking for Blake for the past…" She paused for a second and counted her fingers. "Eight, nine, ten-eleven hours!"

"And I've been on your back the entire day?"

"Pretty much. Todoroki and I took a lot of breaks." Ruby looked up, and realized how orange the sky was getting. She could even see a few stars begin to appear. "Dang, it's almost twilight. We only have a few more hours of daylight before we have to turn it in."

"Turn what in? Your homework? Oh Ruby, did you forget to do your homewo-?"

Deku and Ruby jumped out of their socks at the new voice. Todoroki just blinked.

"AH Penny where did you come from?!" The surprise wore off the two Roses as the younger half tried to decipher the...anomaly before him.

It was most notably a girl, with short curly hair adorned with a pink bow. Her bright green eyes accentuated her even brighter smile, and her light skin was mostly covered everywhere else on her body save for her head and an inch between her overalls and stockings. "Hey Ruby! What endeavors are you exploring today-I mean what are you up to? Are these guys friends with you?"

"Uh-Uhm…" Ruby cleared her throat again. "This-" She placed her hands on Izuku's shoulders. "Is my brother, Izuku! I call him Deku. He's a dork."

"Hey! You're one to talk…"

"And this-!" Ruby attempted to place her elbow on Todoroki's shoulder, only to be blocked by his forearm. She still somehow managed to stay balanced. "-Is Izuku's teammate, Todoroki!" She leaned in close to Penny and uttered, "I wouldn't recommend talking to him; he's more aloof than a brick wall!"

"Seriously, you're pretty bad at whispering." Todoroki deadpanned.

"Ah, I see." Penny took out both of her hands, to which the two members of INPT shook simultaneously. "Salutations to you both! I met Ruby and the rest of her team yesterday. Speaking of...where is the one you call 'Blake Belladonna'?"

"Yeah, that's what we're worried about." Ruby sighed, "We've been looking all day for her, but there's been no sign of her anywhere in Vale."

"I heard!" Penny exclaimed. "I ran into Yang and Weiss a little while ago, and they said that they were searching for her too. Are you guys running a search party?"

"Uhm…" Izuku scratched his head. What Penny was saying wasn't _entirely_ inaccurate. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Then I shall join you!" Penny grabbed her by the arms, and suddenly Ruby felt like _her_ personal space was invaded.

 _Yeah how does it feel?_ Izuku smirked.

"Don't you worry, Ruby my friend!" Penny's voice had an air of confidence to it, something that the trio could get behind, as, well, they were losing hours and they haven't seen a hint of her all day. A little push of determination is pretty much what they needed. "I will not rest until we find your teammate!"

"Um...guys…" Deku pointed a few blocks west from where they were, towards the docks. They all turned, and a faint _boom_ and a massive dust cloud rose into the air, ruining the otherwise beautiful sunset. Birds took to the air, flying the exact opposite direction from the explosion, and the few other people on the streets of Vale were either running away or hiding in buildings. "I'm not one-hundred percent certain, but...I think I found her."

"Crap, that doesn't look good." Todoroki grimaced. (Penny: I thought you said Todoroki doesn't speak.) "Izuku, Ruby, you two go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"Right." Deku strained his muscles for a moment, and suddenly Full Cowl surged through his arteries and veins, lighting up his body in a brilliant viridescent glow, complete with green electricity that sparked around his body.

"Woah!" Penny exclaimed. "He's glowing!" Deku took off, landing on the wall of a building before zipping to the other side of the street, moving forward with each leap before zooming over the rooftops. "Woah! He's also super fast!"

Ruby was next, and she got into a running stance. Taking a deep breath, her Semblance activated and within a second she was out of sight, with only rose petals to signify where she once was. "Ruby's really fast too!"

"Y'know, on second thought, I shouldn't have left her with me…" Todoroki mused under his breath. _I can barely talk to my friends, let alone people I've just met._ "Listen Penny, you should get going. What we're about to jump into isn't exactly what you'd call 'safe'."

Surprisingly, Penny didn't look at all fazed, and instead put on a courageous smile. "Don't you worry, Todoroki. I'm combat ready!"

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier..._

"So that's the White Fang, huh?"

"Yeah...I was hoping it wasn't, but something told me that they had something to do with this all along…"

The two stray faunus were atop a warehouse overlooking the docks. Just across from them were dozens of stacked Schnee Dust Company shipments, waiting to be taken in by the Kingdom of Vale or, what they _weren't_ hoping to happen but happened anyways, stolen by the White Fang.

"Hey! Why're you animals dawdling around?!"

 _What is this…?_ Blake peered down at the landed Bullhead and sure enough, a man in a white trenchcoat and fedora stepped onto the ramp. She couldn't tell whether or not he had any faunus-like features, but she could tell instantly just what race he was by the way he addressed the White Fang members.

" _Animals_." _That guy...he's a…_ "This can't be right. The White Fang wouldn't ever form a coalition with a human. Especially not one that talks down to them like that." Blake got to her feet and unsheathed her Gambol Shroud. She had seen enough of this.

"Hey, what're you doing?!" Sun shouted after her, but the cat faunus was already well on her way to intersect the criminals below. "Don't go running on ahead! We need a pla-okay, y'know what screw it I'm coming with you…after I eat this banana." He took a bite from the fruit in question. "Man, that's so good!"

The Ex-White Fang member peered around a storage unit, and spotted the man talking to one of his underlings, spouting on about how the tether he was holding wasn't a leash. She didn't care. _His back is turned, though. I can use that to my advantage!_ Like a tiger stalking her prey, she pounced quickly and efficiently, and within a tenth of a second she was out of hiding with Gambol Shroud around the trenchcoat-wearing criminal's neck, whom she assumed was behind all of this.

"What the-?! Oh for fu-"

"No one move! Unless you want your leader's head on a pike." Unsurprisingly, Blake realized the about half-dozen White Fang around her unsheathed their weapons. She was in a precarious predicament: She didn't want to kill their leader (she needed him for information), but revealing that would probably get _her_ killed. _I need to play this cautiously…_

"Woah, take it easy there, little lady. How about we make a negotiation?"

 _Press._ "Ow, okay! I get it. I guess that card's off the table…"

"I'm not here to negotiate with the likes of you, but rather…" Blake ripped off that bow that was hiding her true identity, and suddenly her dark cat ears caused ripples of confusion through the White Fang members around her. "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum of Remnant? Don't you see he's just using you to get his own, selfish ways?"

Shockingly, some of them actually lowered their weapons and stared at each other in uncertainty. It was a gamble, but one that thankfully worked out.

Or at least, she thought it did. "Alright kid...didn't you get the memo? The White Fang and I are going on a joint-business venture together."

Blake pressed on the blunt end of Gambol Shroud even more. "Tell me what it is, or I'm putting an end to your little operation."

"Um, sweetheart, I think you mean ' _and_ I'm putting an end to your little operation'. You never get to pick when it comes to hostage situations where I'm from. And besides…" The wind picked up as two more Bullheads came into view, tow cables and all, ready to deliver those Dust units to...wherever they're taking them. "I'd call this operation _anything_ but little." _Click._

 _Click. Click._

"Dammit, it just _has_ to jam at a time like this…" Torchwick threw his cane to the ground, making a mental note to just get another one custom made as soon as he got home. "I said a cool one-liner and everything…"

"So, are you going to give up?" Blake slowly began to turn the blade of her weapon to the sharp end. "Or do you want me to turn your neck into thinly sliced deli product?"

"Wow, that visual…" Roman sighed as he stealthily reached for his jacket pocket. "Look, kid, I get it. You're good."

Torchwick glanced back at the White Fang soldiers that were supposed to be aiming their guns right between the cat chick's eyes, but instead...he found the majority of them on the floor, clutching their stomachs and or limbs in pain. A kid with golden hair and a monkey tail holding a staff had just taken the last one down, and it looked like he didn't even break so much as a sweat. Roman blinked in surprise. "Apparently he's good too." He stated flatly.

"Your point?" Blake grit her teeth together, her patience wavering. "Tell me why you're doing this. What's your game? What are you after?"

"Yeah, tell us!" Sun aimed his staff as Torchwick's defenseless body, which was already in danger of getting slit at the windpipe.

"Aw, kitty, if only I could tell you and your primate boyfriend, but no, my lips are sealed." He gave a small smirk of victory as his hand finally made it into his pocket.

Sun was the first to realize this. "Hey, what're yo-" The criminal quickly pulled out what he was concealing: a wireless device with a button at the end. Something told the two faunus that they didn't want to know what would happen if he were to press it.

But he pressed it anyways.

On cue, black gas materialized from thin air, only feet away from where Sun was standing. With their attention locked onto the circular pattern the dark ink was creating, Torchwick took advantage and elbowed Blake hard in the gut, keeling her over and giving him just enough time to pry himself from her grasp and escape.

The black purple-ish gas expanded, now becoming large enough to engulf a whole human, and viscous enough that any translucency was lost. It was like a black hole, minus the gravity but keeping the perplexity. Blake didn't know what to make of it, until Torchwick ran up and stood just in front of it, his arms out wide like he was about to embrace the sweet taste of victory.

"What do you look to happy about?" Blake shouted. "You didn't win!"

"Oh, but I did." He pointed to the Bullheads that were just above them literally a minute ago, which were now carrying whole shipping crates filled to the brim with nothing but Dust. She watched as they flew over the sea, out of her grasp and soon to be out of the authorities' radar in just a few moments.

 _And it was all because this guy was distracting us by acting as a decoy! Dammit!_ Blake cursed to herself. _How could I make such a stupid mistake?!_

"Blake, calm down! On the bright side, we can still capture this guy, and once he's in the hands of the authorities he's sure to talk!" Sun aimed his staff at Torchwick once again, but this time all the fedora-clad villain could do was chuckle lightly.

"You may actually have a point there, kid." The gas behind him enlarged further, now almost fifteen feet in diameter, large enough to swallow a truck. "But, if you wanna arrest me…" Torchwick stepped out from the middle of the black anomaly, opting to stay by the perimeter. Blake narrowed her eyes at that as she tried to figure out why he made such a move.

But when she finally figured it out, it was far too late.

"You'll have to go through _him._ " He pointed at Sun and snapped his fingers. The gas behind him shuddered as something began to move from _inside it_.

"U-Uhm, Blake, what's going on?..." Sun clenched his staff even more. He was tempted to switch to nunchucks mode, but that transformation took a few seconds to complete, and in this situation a few seconds could make the difference between life and death.

"I don't know, just keep your guard up. He has something planned." Despite her calm voice, in reality fear began to set into her mind. What was inside that thing? What even _was_ that thing? A portal? A Grimm summoner? It could really be anything, and Blake hated the fact that she was the test dummy for whatever was in there.

"Oh, I have something planned, alright." Torchwick mused. A hand-no, a monstrously large behemoth of a hand grabbed the perimeter of the portal. The color of the skin was black, maybe even an extremely dark shade of purple. It pulled itself forward, and Blake could spot the second hand grab the other end of the warp gate.

Blake and Sun were already silent from shock, their mouths agape and at a loss for words. This was no Grimm, those were usually large in numbers and predictable, and if you knew what you were doing, they were incredibly easy to kill.

Whatever, or _whoever_ was in there, gave off an entirely different vibe. Grimm gave off the sense of despair, of darkness. This one, however...the sense that came off of it was…

Depravity. Corruption. Wickedness. Chaos. The urge to kill. The _want and need_ to brutalize. It was something much more complex than the one-dimensional terror the Grimm gave.

And it all came to a head when the _actual_ head came into view. It started with the beak, which was stout for its size but was filled with sharp, humanoid teeth the size of a fully grown shark's. Its brain was completely exposed, and its small, circular eyes had somehow formed within the gray matter. Its tongue dripped with a slightly acidic substance that hissed as it touched the concrete of the docks.

They almost didn't know what to make of the thing, and that... _thing_ was only halfway out of the portal! One thing was for certain though... _It's not...normal._ Blake thought. _Heck, Grimm are more natural than that monstrosity!_ "It's...it's a freak of nature…"

"That it is, kitty." Roman only barely turned his head to face the monster that was now completely out of the gate. It stood over twelve feet tall, dwarfing absolutely everyone there and even some types of vehicles. Thick, red, faded scars were numerous around its body, to which every square inch was bulging with muscle. So much in fact, that Blake was certain that just its _arm_ was as wide as _she_ was. The only remotely normal thing about it was its cargo shorts that were already stretched to the limit by its humongous legs. It stepped forward with a sickening thud, and roared with the most disgusting sound Blake has ever heard in her life. "This is no natural evolution. Mother Nature would never touch this with a ten foot pole-no, this is something that my colleague has worked hard on making, and now that it's done he suggested I take it for a test ride." Torchwick pointed his finger at the monkey faunus, and the demon beside him seemed to take notice, like it was receiving an order. "I give you…"

The monstrosity raised its head slowly, the muscles in its neck making sickening snapping sounds as it directed its vision to the monkey faunus. "The bioengineered…"

Torchwick snapped his fingers.

Blake's eyes widened in terror as she realized the monster was eyeing her friend down. "SUN! GET OUT OF THE-"

Her eyes were open the entire time, but they registered nothing, saw _nothing_. Then, a millisecond later, a bone-splitting crack echoed through the docks, as the monkey faunus was met with a boulder-sized fist right into his torso.

The faunus' organs rattled in his ribcage as he was blasted back with the force of a conventional missile. The force of the hit broke the concrete beneath them, kicking up clouds of dust that could be seen from city blocks around. The boy crashed into a warehouse wall with a sickening, blood-curdling _thud_ , falling onto his stomach. The creature gave a vomit-inducing roar as Torchwick smirked in approval, his finger-gun making a shooting gesture at the motionless Sun.

"Nomu."

* * *

 **Yep. You read that last word correctly. All I have to say is, if Deku, Ruby and the others don't get there in time, Blake and Sun are _screwed_. How screwed?**

 **This is the Nomu that fought All Might, AKA the character that no one in RWBY has even held a finger to in terms of feats. The Maidens come close, but All Might is definitely stronger than all of them. And now they're being put up against a creature that's almost as strong as he is. Neat-O.**

 **The first thing you might be saying is: How the f*** is that fair for our heroes? I mean, sure, it'll probably be Ruby, Deku, Penny, Todoroki, Blake, and possibly Yang and Weiss versus the Nomu, but well, its a freaking Nomu. The same Nomu that actually injured All Might to some extent and was far beyond all of Class 1-A combined. So yeah, how is it fair?**

 **Simple. It isn't. Life isn't fair, as the RWBY characters post-Volume 3 have learned, they're just getting a taste of that unfairness now. The Nomu just simply outclasses them physically, so let's just say a lot of teamwork has to be involved.**

 **I won't say anything more about that fight, as I want it to just...sink in.**

 **As for everything else in this chapter: Yes, I wanted to have another internal argument between the characters that doesn't follow the regular RWBY narrative. We already know Weiss and Blake don't get along because of their personal and political disagreements over a radical group and we _know_ the drama with her being a faunus and all, so I didn't want to get into any of that and just let it happen off screen (er, script, I guess?), with only the characters mentioning what was going on.**

 **What was shown instead, was Weiss and Todoroki conflict, and their contrast with Deku and Ruby. Izuku and Ruby get along like peanut butter and jelly, but Weiss and Todoroki are like oil and water. I wanted to really sell that, so...yeah. I kind of feel bad for Weiss though: she has a crap life, an aloof brother that, in her mind, probably disdains her now, and now her teammate's gone missing without a word. Yep.**

 **As for the Deku-becoming-Sherlock scene...I'll admit, the police would not let a civilian onto a crime scene under any circumstances, but hey, it's Izuku, the one who has the most plot armor in MHA because we already know he's going to be number one, so let's just say I bent the rules a little for the sake of the story. Don't hurt me, I won't pull crap like that off again. On the bright side, he's met Shigaraki now, in his "dreams", at least.**

 **Well, that's all I have to say for this chapter. I hope to get the second half up by tomorrow, and if I don't then _definitely_ this weekend. Promise. I think.**

 **C'ya!**


	12. It Has Begun (Part II)

**It's finally here!**

 **Sorry it took so damn long. I've been rewriting this thing for weeks, and after a while I think I finally got it to where it needs to be. Unfortunately, this also means I'm exhausted from writing and will probably take a little while before I can get the first chapter of Volume 2 up and running (there is quite I bit I have to rewrite there, too).**

 **So, to recap: The Nomu's here and Sun's injured. Deku, Ruby, Penny, Todoroki, Weiss and Yang are on their way, but will their combined might be able to overpower it? How will our heroes be able to fight it off? Will they even be able to work together? Well, find out below!**

 **In a minute, at least. I just want to thank you all for being patient and staying with me until the finale of Volume 1. With this chapter, I can officially say that this story is about...ten percent done, give or take a few decimal places.**

 **Yes, you heard me. About ten percent. At least, by my calculations. If you want to go by how many Volumes long this story is, then it is sixteen percent, but words wise, it is roughly about ten. So yeah, I still have a huge road ahead of me. I hope you all will be along for the ride, because there is no way I'm stopping this story now.**

 **This chapter was a doozy to write. The first draft, I have to admit, was crap. So I took that, completely scrapped aside from a few key parts, and made this. I wanted to make it so that this Volume ends sort of satisfyingly, but...well, If I explain that now I'll spoil all of the surprises.**

 **You know what? Just enjoy it. I'll talk to you at the bottom :)**

* * *

Chapter 8- It Has Begun (Part II)

It happened again.

She dragged an outsider into her problems, and she got them mortally wounded, or maybe even killed.

It didn't matter that he was a faunus or not.

She could have just cost him his life.

"Oh...wow! So Hand-Face wasn't kidding when he said this thing packs a punch!" Torchwick laughed as he took off his hat and bowed. The portal behind him shrunk to human sized levels as the Nomu looked back at him for further instructions. _These kids...from those two color-coded brats from before to these faunus...I can't afford for them to get in my way anymore. So why not have this guy deal with them?_ "Nomu?"

It made another ear-piercing screech in response. "Kill both of them, and any other teenage brats that try to interfere. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to get another cane…" Roman dusted off his trenchcoat and walked into the portal. When he was fully inside, the gas disappeared.

 _He escaped…_ Blake shakily exhaled as she watched the Nomu's rippling muscles rise and fall from its own breathing. _That...bastard escaped…_

 _And now..._ Nomu turned its attention to Blake, its jaw open and saliva dripping. _I'm going to die._

 _I'm sorry, Sun, for dragging you into this. I'm sorry, Ruby, for running away like a coward._

 _I'm sorry Weiss, for acting so harsh to you. I should have just...talked to you…_

The Nomu reared its head and began to move. In a split-second, it would be right in front of her and probably turn her body into paste. _I should have talked to you...like a friend._

She closed her eyes.

"BLAKE!"

* * *

She was almost too late.

As soon as Ruby Rose noticed the cloud of dust coming from the docks, she and Deku sprinted into action.

Her Semblance gave her the ability to travel at unprecedented speeds. When Yang fired a Dust bullet from her Ember Celicas back at home, Ruby raced it down the road and could actually _see it_ and touch it with her hands.

However, she couldn't go that fast in a city, as the wind she'd create from traveling faster than sound would probably be catastrophic in the relatively narrow streets of Vale. She had to settle for only going the speed of a car down the city blocks.

 _Left, right, right, left...forward! Yes! Okay, I can see the docks from here!_ To everyone looking on, Ruby was nothing but a red blur that zoomed past the "No trespassing" sign and entered the docks.

That's when she saw it. Whatever... _it_ was. _What the heck is that thing?!_

Little do some people know, but when Ruby goes fast, time seems to slow down for her as well. It's like she's going in slow-motion, which comes in handy when she's making small, accurate movements when her Semblance is activated.

So of course, when she got to where the explosion came from, she got to see a full view of the humanoid monster as it peered its head at Blake, as if it was ready to strike. She couldn't let it.

"BLAKE!" She yelled, and her voice caused the cat faunus' head to slowly turn to the crimson blur that was fast approaching her. Ruby quite literally jumped onto her, which would normally kill any human, but Blake's aura made up for the damages that inertia would cause. They skidded to a halt a good distance away from where Blake was standing.

"Blake! Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Ruby looked at her friend for any cuts or bruises that could have happened in the apparent fight that happened a few moments ago. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"R-Ruby…" Blake muttered, trying her hardest to get to her feet from being paralyzed just seconds before. She pointed towards a warehouse further up the docks, and Ruby noticed a large dent in the metal and a golden-haired boy that looked like he was pulling himself up, albeit slowly and caked in dust and blood. "Save...him…"

"But I can't just leave you! Not when...that...thing...almost took your head off! Oh yeah: what even is that thing?! Is it some sort of Grimm?"

"The man who controlled him, he called it 'Nomu'."

"Nomu?" Ruby tensed as the Nomu turned its attention towards Sun. _That thing looks like it could crush him under its feet with no effort, so I need to save him!_

 _But I can't leave Blake exposed like this..._ She looked back at the third member of RWBY. Her eyes were filled to the brim with fear. If they were in the Emerald Forest, Grimm would be all over them from the negative emotions that Blake was emitting. The Nomu began to move, nay, _sprint_ towards Sun.

That's when Ruby realized, _That thing isn't just strong...it's also incredibly fast!_ She grimaced, letting go of Blake and taking off, her Semblance at full throttle.

To her, it would take a few seconds from where she was now to Sun. To someone looking on, it would be as if no time had passed at all. She glanced back towards the Nomu, and gasped in horror.

It was moving.

Its hulking legs stomped on the ground, creating small tremors and craters in the concrete. Nomu's eyes went from being dead-focused on Sun to peering at Ruby.

The Huntress was so enamored by how fast it was moving that she almost didn't realize the gigantic fist that was approaching her from the left. She gasped, but managed to evade it by a hair, the muscly limb skimming her corset as it passed by.

 _It isn't AS fast as me,_ Ruby thought as she ducked under another potentially fatal blow. _It's like watching a video at 75% speed…_

She dodged another one, but this fist caught a little bit of her hair. Her eyes widened as she saw the hair get ripped in two. _I still have to be…!_ She glanced behind her, and realized that she was mere feet away from falling off the pier and into the frothing ocean.

The sea itself was rather calm today, but... _Why does it look so rough in just this area?!_

That's when she realized... _It's the Nomu's punches._ It was attacking her with so much force that the air it was displacing actually created shockwaves that rattled the sea. _If one of those hit me..._ She looked over at Sun, who was still struggling to get up. Considering he was more built than Ruby was and was hurt _that badly_ by an attack like that... _I might actually die._

She felt a reverberation in her right ear. _Oh no…_

The fist was less than arm's length away from her face, and it was closing the gap quickly. She didn't have enough time to move. Her eyes shut closed, but it didn't make much difference considering that the pitch black knuckles of the Nomu had already taken up most of her field of view.

"ANEKI!" _Deku?!_

Her eyes shot open, and miraculously the Nomu's hand only nicked her nose as it diverted to the left. On her right, mint-green lighting encompassed an even darker green blur, that came into focus as Ruby's Semblance deactivated. Izuku Rose's hands shoved into the Nomu's massive forearm, pushing it just enough to avoid Ruby and causing the monstrosity to lurch sideways, as the diversion offset its center of balance. Its head turned to Izuku, who smiled defiantly in response.

"Aneki, now! I can handle it!" Deku shouted, and all his sister could do was nod in reply as she darted around the Nomu, straight towards the injured Sun, this time with no Nomu to get in her way.

Within seconds, she grabbed Sun and brought him back to Blake, whose face was that of anticipation and fear. "Sun!" The faunus knelt down as Ruby lay Sun on the ground. The concrete was already staining from the blood that was coming out of him. "Oh no…" Blake couldn't do much for him, as most of the injuries he sustained were internal. All she could really do was bandage any cuts and scrapes.

She glanced back up at Izuku, and then to Ruby, whose weapon was already out and aimed at the Nomu. "Ruby, I don't know if your brother can handle that thing. If he gets hit even once…" She looked back at Sun. His eyes were half open and glassy, his breathing erratic. "It'll be over for him…"

"Don't worry," The young huntress affirmed as she looked through Crescent Rose's scope. They were far from Deku and the Nomu, but Ruby knew that she could zip over there within a second if things were to go south. "Deku had a smile on his face before I ran off. He has a plan."

"And what if he doesn't?..."

"I know he does. Call it...sibling instinct." She mused, but her expression darkened a little as she saw the Nomu shake her brother off of its arm. _Please let me be right about this...please have a plan, Deku._

A few dozen meters ahead, the huntsman in question backrolled as he made contact with the concrete and got up to his feet without incident. The Nomu made another ear-splitting croak as it lumbered towards Deku, its teeth grinding against one another like it was hungry for a meal. _Okay...I think I have this guy figured out...I think._

He stared at the puddle of blood that Sun was laying in seconds ago. _It's clear that this guy's extremely powerful. He was able to make that large of a dent in a steel wall, and break through Blake's friend's Aura like it was nothing._ He also recalled to when it was trying to punch Ruby, and was surprisingly somewhat keeping up with her speed. _It's not just strong, either. It's fast, almost as fast as my sister._

 _Just a hunch, but I assume that it should have enhanced durability, too. I don't know if 5% will be enough to harm it…_

 _I'll have to double it, maybe even triple it._ He deduced, the coils of lightning appearing around him once again. "Okay, you big sack of brainless muscle…" He put up a fighting stance, one that the Nomu seemed to take as a challenge, as it too looked like it was about to rear its head. "Come at me!" Suddenly, Izuku rushed forward, and was surprised to see that the Nomu started marching towards him as well.

Faster than he was. _Crap!_ His face went from cocky to hesitant in a mere second as the Nomu met him beyond halfway and was almost on top of him. _I...have to just go for it…!_ He pulled back a fist, and the Nomu mirrored his actions. _No...if we trade blows…_ He thought of Sun's broken, beaten body, and how he was probably struggling to even take a breath. _I'm going to die._

" _It's no good. I can't dodge it!"_

 _Huh? Wait...no, not now! Not here!_

" _I'll...have to counterattack! Just...watch the timing…"_

 _Why is this stupid memory thing happening NOW, of all times?!_

* * *

 _Location: ?_

 _POV: "Izuku M_"_

Izuku's eyes shot open, and instantly his whole body felt the pang of exhaustion. Looking down, he realized his body was in rough shape. The costume he was wearing looked almost the same as his usual combat gear, excluding the iron-soled boots and the overall darker green color scheme. His right sleeve was torn to his elbow, exposing his light skin that felt like it had been exposed to fire a minute too long, i.e. lightly burned. His face felt the same, but the sweat pouring down his brow satiated the burning sensation.

"FINE, THEN!" A _boom_ shocked Izuku out of his self-examination. He faced forward, and realized that there was something-or rather, someone, blasting towards him with the speed of a conventional missile due to the explosion behind him that they somehow created. "LET'S FIGHT WITH OUR FISTS!"

The weird thing was? Izuku couldn't focus on him clearly. It was like... _his whole body is blurry, even though everything around me looks perfectly fine!_ _Well, not really…_

Glancing around him, he realized the room he was in was pretty torn up. The floor was covered in debris or even worse-had craters on it. There were multiple human-sized holes along the walls that looked busted open from a blast. The sun beamed in from behind Deku, as if there was open air behind him.

He didn't have any time to turn around, however. The figure was approaching him, and fast. _I need to think of something!_ Despite not being able to see it clearly, he could still make out the general body shape.

It looked to be slightly bigger than Izuku himself, with blonde hair and a dark color scheme on whatever clothing he was wearing. His arms had big green apparatus covering the forearms that Deku couldn't identify, but he assumed it had to do with the explosions he could create. As he got to the halfway point, the huntsman's eyes widened.

 _My body...it's happening again!_ He grimaced. _I can't control it anymore!_ "Izuku" got into a fighting stance as the figure advanced.

" _It's no good. I can't dodge it!"_ Deku felt his arm begin to strain, and his Semblance run through his veins as it activated. _Wait, why am I not using Full Cowl?! This is...this is how I fought when I first got my Semblance!_

" _Watch the timing…"_ The opponent outstretched his arm, and Izuku brought his fist up to meet it.

Deku would have been right on, but a small explosion erupted in front of him. He felt the heat burn into his eyes, causing it to be shut closed and his head to whip back.

Blinking his eyes open for a split second towards the ceiling, he saw whoever he was fighting soar above him before his vision was cut off again.

He heard two more explosions, before screaming in pain as he felt a searing pain on his back. _Wh...what?!_

 _Normally these weird memories tell me something useful, but this time…_

 _...It's telling me nothing!_

* * *

He opened his eyes quickly, and found himself back to where he was before: charging head-first into an opponent five times his size, with a design straight out of some sort of B-rated horror flick. Both of their fists were pulled back, ready to slam into one another at a moment's notice.

 _What did that tell me…?_ Izuku thought as he saw the arm of the monster finally push forward in slow-motion. _Did that tell me that I'm just going to get hit no matter what I do? If I try and counterattack, it'll do more damage to me...but if I try to dodge, well…_ He recalled back to seeing the overwhelming speed of the black abomination, and how it almost caught his sister and cost her her life. _I'm not sure if I'll be able to in the first place. Think, Izuku, think!_

 _Wait...what if I try to dodge AND attack? Isn't that what that guy did to me in my memory?_ Izuku thought carefully about the trajectory his opponent from his dreams must have taken.

" _Deku would have been right on, but a small explosion erupted in front of him. He felt the heat burn into his eyes, causing it to be shut closed and his head to whip back."_

 _He probably used that first explosion has a smokescreen._

The Nomu was almost on top of him now, so if Deku were to act, he'd have to act _now_. He pulled his right fist back as much as he could, and then-

"SMASH!" With his left hand, he did a move he hasn't done in a while: putting his Semblance into his finger and flicking it with the force of a jet engine. The winds that the flick created caught the Nomu off guard, forcing it to take a step backwards. It tried for the punch anyways, but croaked in response to it hitting nothing but air.

"Got you!" Deku smirked as he found himself in the air, a few feet above the back of the Nomu's massive torso. _My judgement was right! I used the flick as a decoy, and then I punched below me, which propelled me to here!_ Izuku smiled as he reeled back another punch, this time pushing _Full Cowl_ to beyond his typical 5%.

 _Six...Eight...Twelve...Fourteen..._ "Full Cowl: 15%!" He brought his fist down with a deafening "SMASH!". The air around the contact point shot outwards in all directions, causing any small or loose items on the docks to be caught in the winds and carried back at mind-boggling speeds.

Izuku placed his legs on the Nomu's back, forcing his Semblance into his legs and kicking off it, in hopes of getting in some extra damage as well as getting away in case his attack didn't finish it off completely. He tumbled onto the concrete, but rolled and found his footing quite easily. He looked to where the Nomu was, but the monster was obscured from view by a dust cloud that Deku had made with his punch.

"Deku!" Ruby's voice sounded from afar. "Did you get him?!"

"I _hit_ him, that's for sure!" He shouted back. "I don't know if he's down, though…" _He should be,_ Izuku thought. _I hit him with a punch that was three times as strong as my normal one. And if I remember correctly, 5% was able to take down a Bullhead with a single strike. Unless this thing's skin is stronger than steel, I don't see it surviving a hit from that. Speaking of…_ He took a look at his right arm, which he used twice in that quick skirmish, and found it odd that it wasn't sore, like, at all. _Wait, but I used 15%, which would at least make it sting at the joints! But how come…?_

"DEKU!" Ruby's voice cried out again, but this one was more of a warning cry, which made Deku stop in his mental tracks. "LOOK OUT!"

He looked up. All he saw was a black blur rush up to him before feeling a cold, massive hand grab him by the leg, enveloping the entire limb. He felt himself being picked up and thrown like a ragdoll, the air speeding past him for a half second before his body crashed into something wooden, breaking it and being buried within whatever he slammed into.

It all happened before he could even react. One second, he was up and thought he was victorious, and the next he found himself buried within wood and a sand-like material. He couldn't hold onto consciousness anymore, and felt his eyes grow heavy as a faint " _Izuku!"_ rang in the distance, which to him sounded muffled and faded. "Ru...by…"

His eyes shut as he felt a viscous liquid fall onto his eyelids.

* * *

"Izu...ku…" Crescent Rose clanged to the ground, but Ruby couldn't hear her precious weapon fall. Her breathing shallowed. Her pupils became small dots in her silver irises. Her body was frozen in place, like a deer in headlights.

"Ruby?..." Blake was equally terrified. Not just at the fact that the Nomu had thrown Izuku like he was a defunct toy, but also that the normally cheerful and upbeat Ruby looked like every ounce of happiness had been sucked out of her. "Ruby, you have to stay focused!" Sun coughed underneath her, and all the faunus could do was wipe away the blood that was congealing around his mouth. _That was probably the wrong thing to say..._ she looked at where Izuku had crashed into.

Wooden crates that were labeled with the "explosive material" sign. If she had to assume, the crates were most likely filled with either Explosive or Fire Dust, both of which can explode with enough friction. It was a miracle that nothing had gone off when Izuku crashed into it, but... _he's probably incredibly injured in there...but we can't do anything with that monster in the way!_

 _No..._ the red huntress fell to her knees. "Izuku…"

"RUBY!" Blake shouted, trying to get her teammate to snap out of her trance. "I know what you might be thinking, but there's still a chance that he could be alive. For now, though…" Her attention turned to the Nomu as it gave another vomit-inducing growl. "We _have_ to stay on track. That thing could pull us apart like cotton candy if we're not-"

The huntresses' scream ripped through the docks, piercing into Blake's eardrums. The Nomu cocked its birdlike head over to Ruby like a chicken, just as she grabbed hold of Crescent Rose with her finger on the trigger.

Time slowed to a crawl in her perspective. Rain was light, but the drops that did fall were practically unmoving as Ruby sprinted forward. Using her weapon as a propellent, she zipped forward. The Nomu ran forward to meet her, moving at a pace that was ever-so-slightly slower than she was moving.

 _A full-on collision won't end well, so…!_ The Nomu swung its huge arm, a wide right hook that was telegraphed enough to dodge. She ducked under, spinning around as she did so that Crescent Rose's blade was behind the Nomu. She fired a bullet, the recoil causing her to jerk backwards. The blade sliced into the back of the monster's heels, sweeping it off its feet as its head cracked the ground as its body crashed onto the wet pavement.

 _Now that it's dazed, I can go for this!_ Spinning her weapon around a final time, she swung Crescent Rose over head. With a thick, gooey noise akin to a knife slicing through raw meat, the blade stabbed directly into the Nomu's chest, the abomination roaring in pain as Ruby dug it deeper, nearly halfway in its body.

"D-Did she do it?..." Blake uttered as she watched the blood squirt from the deep wound like a miniature fountain. _Did she actually kill that thing?_

Ruby's clenched teeth relaxed as she gave a deep exhale. _With a wound that deep, I doubt it'll get back up._ Now that the Nomu wasn't moving and was reduced to weak growls, Ruby deepened the wound a little more before turning her attention to the destroyed crates with her brother inside.

"Izuku!" She shouted into the pile of rubble. She couldn't run in there and pull him out; moving that fast and digging that much stuff out of the way with Fire Dust everywhere could set off an explosion. Her best hope was that he was conscious and could hear her, so he can pull himself out.

Unfortunately, after about a minute of yelling his name, there was no response. Ruby felt her heart drop down to her stomach from the lack of movement or even a response. After a little while she _did_ hear a reply, but not from in front of her.

 _Oh no..._ she found herself frozen. It wasn't like she was physically unable to move, but like a deer in headlights, she was petrified. The Huntress felt the humanoid beast climb to its feet, and another blood-filled _crunch_ reverberated in her ears, and then a metallic-

 _Snap._

An audible yelp exited the young huntress's mouth as she tried her best to cover her mouth. _Please don't tell me that's what I-_ She gasped again as she heard _two_ obvious pieces of metal clang onto the concrete.

It took her what felt like forever to finally turn her head to see, but as soon as she did her first instinct was to look away in horror.

The only thing she could see was the warped, broken and bloody halves of Crescent Rose for a split second before jerking her head back around. The rain that was overtaking the docks was getting stronger by the minute, which only served to wash away the reddish blood that had stained her weapon's blade and to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

 _It just…_ Ruby fell to her knees again. Not only was her brother potentially dead, but now her _weapon_ , the one thing she cherished most of all excluding her family, was ripped in two and useless in the pouring rain.

 _It just tore apart her weapon like it was nothing..._ Blake looked like she had just seen a car crash: it was ugly, maybe even horrifying, but she couldn't take her eyes away, nor could she move to get out of harm's way. Sun had fallen unconscious again, so she couldn't move even if she wanted. _I have to protect Sun, but…_

She noticed the Nomu start lumbering towards Ruby, taking short, methodical steps. The bloody wound in its chest began to shrink, until there was no sign of an injury.

It was out of arm's reach for now, but if Blake didn't do something soon... _Ruby could..._ She remembered what had happened to Izuku, how his body looked like mush as it was launched at speed she couldn't comprehend, right into the wooden boxes with a loud _crunch_ and _crash._ With Ruby, who was obviously lighter, a hit like that would most likely shatter her aura and potentially... _No! I can't think about that!_ Blake picked up one of her Gambol Shrouds, aiming the crosshairs right onto the Nomu's eyeball.

She pressed down onto the trigger, and the oncoming bullet hit right where she wanted, right into the creature's pupil. Blood erupted from the socket as the black abomination screeched. Its head jerked sideways and turned to Blake, who was just starting to realize that a hit like that probably didn't do much to hurt it.

"RUBY!" She cried out in desperation to her teammate as the Nomu began stomping towards her, picking up speed. Within the next few seconds, it was certainly going to be on top of her. "GET OUT OF HERE!" Ruby only gave a mortified stare; not necessarily at her, but in general. She was terrified, powerless. And in a way... _So am I._ She closed her eyes again. It was the second time this beast was approaching her, and this time she had no way out.

The Nomu cracked the concrete as it accelerated at speeds that would put bullet trains to shame. It reached out its hand, aiming to crush the faunus' skull in its palm.

A loud _Wssh!_ and the sudden temperature drop prompted Blake to open her eyes again. The Nomu's hand was mere inches away from her head, however its entire body save for an arm and its head were either covered in or stabbed with sharp stalagmites of ice that kept pushing it to Blake's left- towards the sea.

She turned her head right, and finally exhaled in relief as that signature white and red hair of the youngest Schnee blew in the wind. His hand was placed on the ground, and from his right arm and leg sprouted the spiky glacier of ice that wouldn't let up: continuing to push the Nomu until the body became suspended over the docks. With a loud crash of the frothy waters, the Ice drove downwards, carrying the Nomu with it. After a few tense moments, the water calmed, leaving only the giant ice structure and the light tap of the rain hitting the sea.

* * *

"What was that thing?..." Todoroki muttered as he finally let off on his attack. Even though he did realize there was no movement, he knew it could still very well be alive. _I'll have to make this extraction quick._

"I would like to inquire the same thing!" Penny, who was told to stay back by Todoroki as he made his attack, stared at the giant iceberg he had just created before turning to her temporary partner. "What _was_ that? It looked huge!"

"It doesn't matter for right now." Todoroki flatly stated in response as he made his way towards Blake. "What does matter is getting them to safety. You go get Rose and her brother, I'll take care of Blake and her friend." Penny nodded and saluted at the command, running around the ice to meet up with the red huntress while the white-redhead went to both of the faunus.

As he approached them, he began to realize the beating that Blake's friend had taken. There weren't any major external bleeding areas, but from the huge bruise on his stomach, there was most likely internal bleeding that would require hospitalization to recover from. Blake herself didn't look injured, but her eyes were those of one that had just seen something _awful_. Like a ghost, or their parents dying, or in this case, a monstrosity that he had barely managed to save her from. _Obviously, asking if they're okay is way out of the question at this point…_ "Come on, we need to get out of here. The Vale Police will take care of the rest of this mess." He grabbed Blake by the forearm, but she wasn't budging.

"All this time I was fighting them...I was under the impression that the White Fang were a bunch of misguided faunus...but…" She looked down at Sun, whose condition was only going to get worse if they didn't do something about it soon. "If they have something like _that_ under their sleeve, then...then…"

"Here." Todoroki placed his hand over Sun's abdomen, and a layer of thin ice formed over the wound. "That will slow down the blood loss a little, but if you want him to survive, you will have to get him to a hospital, and soon."

Blake looked up at the Schnee with teary, fearful eyes. She had a feeling that that monster was only the beginning of whatever wars were going to happen in the future. All of a sudden, she felt like the young girl who saw her own kind be slaughtered by the humans: powerless. Fearful of the future, of her own safety. The Nomu had almost taken away her own life twice, potentially Sun's and Izuku's, and had snapped Ruby's weapon like it was a toothpick.

Even so, she needed to at least save Sun. "R-Right…" She put Sun's arm around her own and began to carry him away. Soon after, Penny appeared with Ruby, whose face was just as traumatized as Blake's, if not worse. Shoto noticed she carried the two halves of Crescent Rose in her hands, and suddenly her look of anguish seemed completely justified to him.

"Ruby's says that her brother is still in that pile of Dust and rubble." Penny explained as she pointed to the place in question. "It's filled with Explosive and Fire Dust, which means that you'll be the best bet in getting him out of there since you can freeze over the Dust without incident."

"Alright." He nodded. "Is he injured?" He saw Ruby weakly and expressionlessly nod in response. "Okay. We'll have to get him to a hospital too, then." He jogged over to the crash site, activating his Semblance in his right hand.

It was then that the ground began to tremble.

The rain mysteriously stopped pouring. The water leveled out and calmed, the froth gone. A collection of bubbles appeared on the surface of the ocean next to the icy stalagmites.

Shoto whipped his head around to look back at his teammates. Blake was carrying Sun, Penny was taking care of a mentally-broken Ruby. They were all essentially defenseless if anything were to happe-

 _WSSH!_

The water erupted into a geyser, spraying up into the air hundreds of feet before sprinkling down as salty, freezing rain. A humongous black body jumped from the explosion of seawater, planting its feet onto the docks with a deep thud. It shrieked out in what Todoroki could only describe as either frustration or anger, before beginning to stomp towards the injured huntsman and huntresses.

Shoto eyed the monster as it lumbered forward. The circular stab wounds his ice spikes should have inflicted on the creature were gone, which only meant one thing: _This bastard can regenerate. And quickly, too._ He grimaced as he glanced back to where Izuku had fallen. _If I don't help Rose out now, he'll probably die. But…_ He watched as Blake tried her best to back away, but since she was carrying a limp body over her shoulder it was difficult to move. Penny was trying to get Ruby to stand, but all she did was look to the ground in silence. _The same can be said for them._

 _Dammit!_ He turned his head back and forth, the Nomu not slowing down as it advanced. He was running out of time, and the colder temperatures made his Semblance even harder on his body. He could send the ice to Izuku's direction to stop the Dust from potentially going off, but he'd be unable to use any afterwards. Using his Ice to block the Nomu would only slow it down. _What can I-?_

"Oi! Ya big black bastard, look up here!"

Shoto frantically jerked his head around for the source of the voice before realizing it was coming from the top of a stack of cargo. "What the-oh." Despite the tense situation, he felt his body relax ever so slightly as he saw that oh-so recognizable bright blonde hair flow in the wind, those lilac eyes turning red as those gauntlets activated and cocked.

Yang Xiao Long smirked, her hair brightening as she braced herself for an oncoming impact. "I'm your fight now, so come on!"

The Nomu gazed up at her, puzzled. It almost seemed confused on the next move it should take, and in those extra seconds, a certain huntress found an opportunity.

Coils of flames burned towards the Nomu, exploding on contact with its body. A cloud of smoke appeared in front of it, and Yang gave a full, cocky grin.

Weiss, who was just below her and behind her injured teammates, only rolled her eyes as Yang's apparent arrogance. "Just like her…"

The busty blonde screamed, pushing off the cargo and blasting towards the beast at speeds comparable to a speeding motorcycle. Her right fist was outstretched, while her left blasted behind her, accelerating her. _Let's see if Deku's motto actually makes punches more powerful…_

"SMASH!"

The shockwave from the blow practically vaporized the smokescreen from the air, as well as causing the ocean to froth away from the impact. Blake, Weiss and Todoroki shielded their eyes from any incoming debris. When the dust settled and the wind died down, they found Yang's punch had-

"Landed…" Blake muttered. The yellow huntress's fist found itself buried into the Nomu's cheek, and the head of the monstrosity had been noticeably jerked sideways. Yang gave another toothy grin of victory.

"Take that, ya bastard." She spat at the monster's face. "How about…" She pulled back her leg, preparing for a massive roundhouse right to the other side of its head. "THIS!"

Another shockwave rang out. Weiss and Blake prepared for another blast of wind, but this time, it was cut short. They both gasped as Yang's shin had found itself caught by the Nomu's massive palm.

The blonde didn't even have any time to react before she was thrown over the Nomu's head and _slammed_ into the ground with the force of a wrecking ball into a building. In the moment right after being crushed, all Yang could taste in her mouth before the Nomu pressed its foot onto her torso was blood. It pressed her body it further into the ground, and she cried out in pain, her Aura shattered into pieces and her Semblance now useless, as the damage she had taken was too much for it to handle.

"YANG!" Blake screamed out back to her. She gently placed Sun on the ground, gesturing for Todoroki to watch him, before grabbing her Gambol Shroud and running in, full stop.

"Blake, don't be stupid!" Weiss and Shoto yelled in unison, before looking at each other in surprise. The former instantly jerked her head away while the latter sighed before tending to Sun.

The faunus emptied practically all of her magazines into the Nomu as she rushed forward, but none of the bullets seemed to have any effect on it. Crying out in frustration, she switched her weapon to sword mode, aiming to skewer the Nomu right in the heart.

Realizing that getting within arms reach would be suicide, she threw her weapon with all her might. It spun in mid-air, and actually hit its target dead-on.

Unfortunately, in the wrong place and with the wrong side. The monster _grabbed_ the Gambol Shroud mid-air, and with a screech it launched it back to the faunus.

It was then that Blake felt a chill down her spine and a cold, hard, sharp object enter and partially exit her body. No pain came over her, but the wet, sticky sensation that started growing around the entrance and exit wounds made it clear that something was horribly wrong. Her eyes suddenly felt heavy, and then-

She slumped to the ground, shocked and unconscious as blood began pooling around her.

Weiss and Todoroki had no time to react until it was too late. Blake's desperate charge was both out of nowhere and had happened within seconds, and when it was all over she was on the ground. Shoto watched his sister fall to her knees, her normally regal, white dress was getting stained by the rain that had started up again.

 _This was...all because of me, wasn't it?_ Guilt began overtaking her as she dropped Myrtenaster on the cement floor. _If I didn't lash out last night...If I didn't make my whole team and my brother hate me...we wouldn't have been split up._

 _We would have all worked together against that thing. But instead..._ She looked around. Izuku was nowhere to be seen. Both Blake and her friend were bleeding and, if they didn't get help soon, were going to die. Yang was still under the monster's boot, groaning in pain as it continued to press into her body.

And to say that Ruby looked traumatized would be a massive understatement at this point; the look on the young huntress's face was something that Weiss couldn't even begin to describe or understand.

Help was going to come at some point, but in the few minutes that it takes for the police to get there, they could all be killed by that thing. There was no escape, and for a moment Weiss began to accept that.

 _Just like with my father. With my family._

Her breathing hitched. Flashes of her past entered her mind as the rain let on.

 _We should have been together. We should have all gotten along. But we were separated. And because of that…_

She looked up at the Nomu and Yang's crushed body. It reminded her of Jacques as her coward of a father kicked young Todoroki while he curled up in a ball, defenseless. She remembered watching from the cracked door, but saying nothing lest it got her in trouble.

 _When I got to Beacon, I thought it was a fresh start. I thought I could become a huntress like my sister. I thought I could make real friends. And for a while, I thought it was about to come true._

 _But…_

" _Well, maybe if you just opened up to me like the brother I wanted rather than being cold-shouldered to me all the time and showing off that...that stupid Semblance of yours, then maybe you could have gotten what you wanted!"_

" _I was acting cold shouldered? All you did was ignore me!"_

" _Because YOU were treating my family like garbage!"_

 _I tore it all apart. I got my friends hurt, or even killed…_

"I never asked for this…" She weakly uttered under her breath. "Please...let this be a nightmare…"

"On your feet, Weiss." Weiss looked up, and saw Shoto's stern expression, and his heterochromatic eyes which somehow conveyed determination, guilt and anger all at the same time. "Look around you! Our friends are _dying._ Are you really going to sit there and let them all die?!"

"I-I…" Weiss looked back down to the cracked concrete and sniffled as the rain poured down, concealing her tears as they too dripped down to the ground. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Look at me!" Todoroki pulled Weiss' head up to meet her gaze. "I don't give a damn whether or not you're sorry! You tore us apart, and we can't change that fact. But what we can still do is save them!" He moved to the side, and let Weiss watch as Penny's blades zipped towards the Nomu, only to be casually slapped away, knocking over Penny. The Nomu turned its attention back to Yang, whose tan jacket was getting more and more ripped as the Nomu stepped on her. She wasn't even screaming anymore, but her eyes still weakly fought for consciousness as her limbs jerked up and down in reaction to the Nomu's stomps.

"I-I...need to…" The Schnee meekly grasped Myrtenaster, her breath shaky and her voice even shakier. "I need to...stop that thing…"

"Then stand up!" Todoroki shouted at her as he fired a wave of Ice at the Nomu, getting the monster's attention as it dodged. It lifted its foot off of Yang, who finally took a huge inhalation before falling limp again, the ice covering her body in certain areas to slow down any bleeding. The monster growled as it advanced towards the Schnee siblings, and Todoroki, whose Semblance was spent, grimaced in desperation as he turned to Weiss.

"The only words I can say to you are…"

Weiss gasped lightly and gazed upward at her younger brother as he spoke those words.

" _Never forget who you want to become!_ "

Ruby's eyes widened slightly as she processed those words.

Weiss gasped as a lightbulb clicked on in her mind. _Winter._

"Shoto, I have an idea." Weiss stated. Shoto looked back to her in mild shock.

 _It's the first time Weiss has ever called me by that name…_

"Hold that thing off. I'm going to try something that our sister tried to teach me a few months ago."

"Were you any good at it?" Todoroki asked as he continued the stream of ice.

"That's what I'm going to find out. Now, let me concentrate!"

* * *

Everything had fallen apart around her before she could even process it.

Her weapon was in two. Her brother might be dead. Her sister was bloodied and beaten and on her last legs in a small crater in the ground. Her estranged teammate had been stabbed and was bleeding out, and her friend was unconscious as well. The girl she met the other day wasn't doing much good, either, as she had been knocked backwards after her weapons, which were attached to her with some sort of thin, string-like material, were thrown away like disposable toys.

Weiss and Todoroki were the only ones left standing now. All Ruby Rose could do was watch as the Schnee duo tried their best to hold the monster off. Weiss had gone into a straightened pose, with her Myrtenaster pointed towards the sky. Two of her fingers, touched the base of her weapon's blade, and a White Glyph appeared behind her, albeit faint but growing stronger.

The elder Schnee had handed Shoto some Fire Dust a moment before she began her meditation, which he had sprinkled on his right side to melt away the frost. He launched another small glacier at the Nomu, but all it really did was knock it back a few meters.

 _No..._ Ruby thought. _It's not going to work._

She looked at all the injured bodies around her. Some were close to going over the edge, in fact, _most_ were close to hitting the point of no return. In the distance, she could hear the ever-so faint ring of police and ambulance sirens, but they still seemed minutes away from the battlefield. And in those few minutes... _Any one of my friends could die._

 _Or...all of them could._

The Nomu was cutting through more and more Ice, at this point even faster than Todoroki was making it. Frost began to cover his body again, which only proved to slow him down as the black abomination sped up. Weiss scowled as her concentration deepened and the Glyph became brighter, but she was running out of time.

Ruby stared back down at her weapon. It was bent, warped, distorted and destroyed, not to mention in two pieces. The only piece that wasn't affected was the Blade, whose tip had been washed of blood by the rain. _It's useless now._

 _I'm useless. I couldn't do anything to stop that thing._

The Nomu broke through the final layers of Ice, and found itself face-to-face with Shoto. It reached with its left palm and attempted to crush the Schnee's head, but Todoroki held its hand off with both of his arms. Ruby cringed slightly as she heard the white-redhead's yells of pain as he tried his damndest to hold the beast off.

Todoroki's Semblance was on full blast, despite his body temperature dropping fast. Shoto sent frost up the Nomu's arm in hopes of it covering its entire body.

But before it even got halfway up the forearm, he felt a huge fist slam into the side of his head, and then nothing. His body slumped to the ground, and suddenly Weiss sensed that she was alone against the monster, and her technique wasn't even prepared yet.

 _They're going to die...and I...can't do anything..._ Ruby closed her eyes, not wanting to see the horror that was about to take place. _I...I'm sorry…_

Her eyes shot open as she lost all control. The last things she saw before losing consciousness was a bright white light, and then darkness.

* * *

Location: ?

 _W-Where...am I again?_

Izuku Rose opened his eyes to a black void. Nothing was around him. He couldn't physically speak, either. _Well...at least I'm not bleeding..._ He sighed. The darkness wasn't much better, though.

He stepped forward. The sound of his foot hitting the... _something_ , echoed throughout the emptiness.

He squinted his eyes as he saw something in the far distance. It was a small prick of an orange glow, the only light within this endless expanse of darkness. He hesitantly walked toward the light, and expectantly the orange glow grew bigger as he advanced towards it.

" _Why did I come here, you ask?"_

He gasped as his own voice reverberated in his head, even though he never thought about what it was saying in the first place. _What...was that?_

" _I came to this school to become a Hero. To help people in need. To look out for those who can't defend themselves. This city is filled with crime because of the societal imbalance, and if I can help lower crime rates and keep the world safe for everyone then I've fulfilled my purpose."_

" _I know we all want to be heroes. And I know that some of my classmates are better than me, in almost every way possible, including you. But it's no exaggeration when I say I want to surpass all of them. I don't just want to be a hero. I want to be the_ _ **greatest hero**."_

" _So…"_ This particular voice wasn't his, and he didn't recognize it, either, other than it was female. " _You're saying you want to not only surpass Him, but also me?"_

" _Yes. Consider that...consider that a declaration of rivalry."_

" _Hm. Alright Izuku, I accept your challenge. Just...don't hurt yourself when we compete in the festival, okay?"_

" _You're on, M-"_

He couldn't catch the person's full name. As the conversation faded, he realized the light had gotten substantially larger, almost the size of a basketball and growing larger. It was then that Izuku noticed it wasn't just a light; it was a fire.

He watched as the flame grew in size, until it eventually surpassed his own height. The warmth of the flame was greatly juxtaposed to the rather cold atmosphere of the pure darkness just moments ago. He blinked, and all of a sudden a woman materialized in front of the fire. Her eyes weren't visible under the shadows and the bangs, but her backlit body showed a very prominent figure.

She was well-built, and her long dark hair was kept in a partial bun. An obvious mole was visible on her chin, as well. Her clothing was a little peculiar, but reminded him of a huntresses' attire: a black sleeveless bodysuit, a white cape and boots, as well as golden gloves and boots with a red sash around her waist. The only thing missing was the weapon, but she didn't give any time for Izuku to ponder about that. "Whenever you're at your limit, remember why you clench your fist."

 _Remember…._

She put her arm over her chest, gesturing to her heart. "Remember where you came from. Your origin. That will bring you just a little past your limit!"

 _My...origin…_

" _Hey, Izuku…" It's that voice again!_

" _Um…"_ For a second, he could see a brief outline of a girl in a school uniform, blazer and all. Her chestnut hair was the most noteworthy feature about her, especially the flower clip. " _Let's do our best in the tournament, okay?"_

" _I'll do my best!"_ He heard himself yell.

 _I'll do my best…_

 _I don't just want to be a hero._

 _I want to be the_ _ **greatest hero**._

* * *

POV: Weiss

For a moment, Weiss thought it was all over. The Nomu was right on top of her, and the technique she had learned from Winter wasn't even ready yet. She had barely practiced it ever since Winter first taught her the basics of it a few months ago, so applying it in battle when it's do or die wasn't the best idea, but was the only idea she had.

And that idea almost got her killed. Heck, it got her brother knocked out on the floor.

But when the Nomu was almost about to turn her head into an exploded watermelon, a light as strong, if not stronger than the _sun's light_ burst outward to her right, erupting forth in all directions like an angelic glow. She heard a faint cry of a girl as the light persisted, and even though she could barely hear herself think, her immediate thought was _Ruby?!_

It lasted for a good ten seconds before slowly beginning to fade. Somehow, some way, Weiss had managed to hold her pose and continue her technique with just her eyes closed. When she felt the light go out, she slowly eased them open, and almost gasped at what she saw.

Ruby was knocked out cold on the floor, despite being on her knees just before the explosion of light. The Nomu had moved away from her, covering and clawing at its head like it was reeling in pain. A dark gas flowed out of its mouth, like some sinister part of its body was being purged entirely by the light. It screamed as it jerked its head up into the sky, opening its birdlike maw as the dark, inky, gaseous material shout out of it and vaporized into the thing that first caught Weiss' attention.

The light was lingering, like it was a gas, but...not. Weiss couldn't even find a word to describe what she was seeing, just her mouth was partially open in awe. She watched as the darkness emitting from the Nomu was being purged, until there was nothing left. The Nomu stopped struggling, but its bloodshot eyes and the fact that its brain was _pulsating_ gave very clear red flags.

 _What the hell…_

"-Is going on?..." Weiss heard Todoroki mutter weakly beside her. "Weiss...do you know-"

"Shoto, act dead!" She shouted rather forcefully. Todoroki, not wanting to argue with her in a situation like this, went along with her plan. Weiss sighed in relief, knowing her brother was out of harm's way as-

-The Nomu was fast approaching her. It wasn't as fast as it was before, probably due to the black mist that it had just lost, but it was still gaining on her quickly. _Come on...Winter, if you were here, what would you do?..._

" _Weiss…" Oh. How convenient._ She began to recall a conversation she had with her sister months ago about the technique she was learning.

" _I can't really tell you this lightly, so I'll be blunt: Shoto's way ahead of you. And so, in order to prepare you for Beacon, I am going to teach you how to summon. I was planning on doing this once you did enter the Academy and give you special training alongside your academics, but I guess this will suffice."_

" _The first thing you have to learn is to keep a calm mind. Eliminate all outside thought from your head and only focus on the thing you want to summon. Imagine printing a document. It slowly comes out as you put down the information. It's like that. Now...focus."_

 _Focus…I'll do a knight._

The Nomu was starting to pick up the pace. _No, that's too big, I won't be able to get that out in time…come on…_

It was just meters away now. _How about...just...the…_

Arm's length. _...Arm!..._

A metallic clanging sound pierced into Weiss' ears right in front of her. Her eyes steadily opened once again.

 _I did it._ Out of the Glyph behind her was a giant white armored arm the length of a small car, with a sword about twice that length. It cut into the Nomu's forearm before pushing it away. The monstrosity shrieked and attempted to charge in again, but this time Weiss was a little more prepared.

"Skewer that freak."

The Nomu cried out in agony as the huge blade stabbed right into its gut right back out the other side. It was lifted up by the sword's blade, the wound widening as gravity caused the Nomu to fall a little and make the sword cut through more of its body. Then, just before Weiss lost control and the arm dissipated, it threw the abomination aside, crashing it into a huge stack of Dust containers.

"Wait, are they-" The Schnee realized where the Nomu fell was a bunch of plastic barrels of Fire Dust, which were spilling out. "Perfect…" She switched Myrtenaster to Fire mode and launched one little fireball towards the pile, and then-

 _BOOM!_

The inferno that Weiss had created was so hot that it even began to melt the giant glacier Todoroki had created.

"Did you finally get it?..." Shoto found the strength to get to his feet as he watched the blaze with his sister. He felt the side of his head, and luckily there was no blood, but he was half sure he got some sort of concussion.

"Hopefully…" Exhaustion finally came over Weiss as she began to collapse, only to be caught by her brother. "Shoto…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm...sorry about last night."

"Don't worry about it." He said as he instead gestured to the many unconscious bodies on the floor. What we need to worry about it getting our friends medical attention immediately."

Weiss nodded, "Yeah...I think I hear sirens in the distance, anyways." Todoroki listened for a moment, and once he tuned out the huge fire going on in front of him, he could indeed hear police sirens going off. "I think they're about...two minutes away?"

"That might take too long." Shoto quickly inferred. "We have to seal up these wounds somehow. Weiss, help me out. We got to-"

 _Boom._

"Oh no…" Weiss' eyes widened as she heard that ever-so familiar footstep behind them. _What does it take to put that thing down?!_

 _Boom. Boom._

"Weiss…" Shoto turned to her. "You have to get out of here and send for some help."

 _Boom. Boom. Boom._

"O-Okay…" She let go of her bearings and got to her feet, only to fall again as the vibrations of another footstep imbalanced her high heels.

"Weiss!" Shoto grimaced as he turned to see where the monster was. It was among the flames, but was making its way out of it. The wound that Weiss' summon had made on it was still very much visible, with blood gushing from the wound, but it didn't seem to immediately affect it. It powered through the fire, despite being on fire itself, and finally stepped from the inferno.

It was bleeding, bloodshot, on fire, and its muscles were bulging with what Shoto could only assume was anger. He put himself between it and his sister, setting his right side forward. At a moment's notice, he could launch another glacier at the monster, since the flames melted the frost off his body.

 _It won't do any good, though..._ Todoroki thought. _The glacier would just melt and the Nomu would just keep coming...I wish there was another way…_

The Nomu kept moving forward. There was only seconds between him and it. "Uh...Shoto…" Weiss tugged at his sleeve. He turned, and notice Weiss was looking up.

Once he did, he was shocked to see not gray clouds, but rather the light from before that had plagued the Nomu. Instead of it dissipating like normal light would, it appeared it was sticking around in the air, like a gas rather than a light.

And then, it started to funnel in on something. _What the hell's going on?_ He tried to find where it was all leading to, and after a few seconds finally locked in on the target.

The light was going into the pile of Dust and rubble that Izuku was in. _But...why?_

There was a _lot_ of light that was created a minute ago. And if it was somehow being attracted to Izuku... _how much power is he taking in? Or is it even going into him at all?_ Shoto nor Weiss could even begin to describe what was happening.

It was like Izuku was a black hole, sucking in all of the light around it. And when the last seep of light disappeared into the rubble…

 _ **BOOM!**_

The shockwave from the explosion blew apart everything around it within a half-kilometer radius. Todoroki, just a second before the explosion had made a thick shield around him, Weiss, and all of his collapsed teammates. It was made of blue ice, the densest type of ice that exists, and even then it could barely hold against the intense heat and force of the detonation of what could have been _tons_ of Explosive Dust all at once. When the shockwave was over and the explosion done and over with, the two fires on either side of the Schnees melted what was left of their barrier, leaving them exposed to whatever the Nomu was going to do to them.

Luckily, it could do nothing, as it was preoccupied by the person in the center of the explosion.

That signature Viridescent glow of his electricity seemed many, many times more powerful than it normally was. His forest green hair was flowing upwards rather than messy and everywhere. His eyes were fierce and pointed, and his clothes, while ripped, made him looked more intense than he ever has before. His arms were bent and his fists clenched as he _screamed_ at the top of his lungs, making rocks and other debris begin to float up around him.

Izuku Xiao Rose emerged from the flames, the force of his energy snuffing out of the inferno that was once around him. He clenched his teeth as his energy spiked, his eyes honing in on the Nomu, which, despite not being physically able to show surprise, looked at least a little intimidated.

" **FULL COWL: ONE MILLION PERCENT!"**

Then, the green-haired huntsman blasted forth with the force of a dozen Atlas missiles all at once, aiming his fist square in the middle of the Nomu's face. It got there in less than a fraction of a second.

" **SMASHHHHH!"**

The Nomu couldn't even react to the speed of the punch, but the _force_ was something that it had no defense against whatsoever. Izuku's fist _smashed_ into the Nomu's jawline, sending the abomination _flying_ across the surface of the water. The fire that it flew across before going out into the sea was snuffed out completely from the winds Deku created, and the shockwave created a cone within the water so large that three entire freighters could fit inside of it. The Nomu soared across the surface at incomprehensible speeds for a few seconds before crashing into the frothy ocean water, finally defeated and out of sight.

* * *

"What the hell..." Were the only words that Todoroki could get out of his mouth. Weiss didn't even have any words _to_ say, just sat there in stunned silence.

Izuku stood triumphantly, his entire top blown off his body. His right arm was a deep shade of purple, suggesting that it was probably broken from the punch he had just unleashed. He raised his non-broken arm in the air, signifying victory, before stumbling and falling flat on his back, obviously unconscious.

Weiss and Shoto looked at each other, and then to Izuku. They both individually made a mental note to ask him about _what the hell he just did_ later, but for now… "What do we do?" Weiss asked.

"Well…" He looked over at all of their fallen teammates. When Todoroki had covered them from the explosion just seconds ago, he had also closed some of their wounds with ice, which constricts blood flow and prevents blood loss. "I think our teammates will all survive, but they all need definite medical attention."

"Yeah…" Weiss sighed as the adrenaline rush from seeing Deku punch the monster into oblivion began to fade. "I was the one who got us all separated, so how come I'm the only one not hurt…?" Guilt began to pang in her heart again. "I should have been the one to get hurt for their sakes…"

"You seriously can't be thinking that, right?" Shoto pointed out. "The fact that you got through this physically unscathed is a miracle. Treat that as a blessing rather than a curse."

"Okay…" Weiss put Todoroki's arm around her neck as she began to carry him to the drier land. Half a minute later, a police car drove into view and stopped in front of them. As the officer came out to inspect the scene, the first thing he said after looking around it in pure shock and awe was…

"What...happened here?"

Weiss just sighed, not really knowing the answer to that herself. "It's...a long story."

* * *

Location: _?_

"Well, well, well…" That ever-condescending tone of the woman Shigaraki was forced to work with grated into his ears. He watched as Kurogiri opened a portal in the middle of the room, and out came a torrent of saltwater and a limp Nomu, which made a small earthquake as it flopped onto the ground.

The stab wound it maintained during the fight wasn't regenerating, and half of its face was distorted by the punch that green kid had inflicted upon it. Its eyes moved in all sorts of directions, like its brain was malfunctioning. The dark haired woman planted her heeled foot on the defeated monster's stomach. "So I guess _your_ plan didn't work out that well either. How...unfortunate."

Shigaraki grimaced under his hand, scratching at his neck in an attempt to figure out what exactly had went wrong. _I don't understand!_ He shouted inwardly, almost reprimanding himself. _We gave it regeneration, super strength, shock absorption...it should have dealt with all of those kids easily!_ He looked to one of the monitors in the corner of the room, which was connected to one of the Nomu's eyes through a transmitter. It did deal with most of the kids handily, and Tomura doubted that some of them would survive, but…

He walked up to the computer and rewound to a particular part. In the corner of the Nomu's vision, that red-haired girl screamed out, and a flash of blinding light erupted from her eyes, drowning out everything around it. It also caused the Nomu's vision to distort, which affected the quality of the transmitter.

He watched the white-haired siblings hold the monster off, and one of them _stabbing_ his creation through the abdomen with a giant icy sword. He watched the Nomu as it fell into the Explosive Dust, and the entire screen going white again as the contents exploded.

And then... _That kid again._

The green-haired student that had mysteriously piqued Shigaraki's interest. He watched as the light from before pooled towards him before his power erupted like a volcano. The kid gave one look, and a split-second later the Nomu's head cracked sideways as it flung across the ocean and into the frothy depths. Kurogiri's portal enveloped it seconds later, and the camera found itself back in the abandoned warehouse before Shigaraki cut off transmission.

"It wasn't necessarily that the Nomu was too weak…" Shigaraki explained, not really to Cinder but to himself. "There was just too many outliers, that's all...besides…" He skipped back to the footage of Izuku bursting from the fire with that signature green energy. "That kid used a cheat."

"Oh, how childish." Cinder mocked from behind him, spitting onto the Nomu's unmoving face. "You really think those kids used a _cheat code?_ Like a video game? Give me a break, Shigaraki." She opened her hand, a small flame appearing inside of it. "It's like you said. Those children just aren't to be taken lightly. They're like a small fire that refuses to go out."

Shigaraki turned to his coworker just as she crushed the fire in her hands. "But take comfort in knowing that _I_ will be the one to snuff it out. I _am_ one-half Maiden, after all."

"Oh please, when has that _One-Half Maiden_ title ever helped you at all?" Tomura shot back, his face contorting into minor annoyance. "The same child that put my Nomu down at…" He replayed the footage one more time.

" _ **FULL COWL: ONE MILLION PERCENT!"**_

"...supposedly _one million percent_ , took only _five percent_ to significantly injure you." He smiled under his hand mask as it was Cinder's turn to look annoyed. "Now tell me...how do you like your odds if you were to fight him again?"

In the corner, Kurogiri watched from a makeshift bar, cleaning a bourbon glass with a rag in silence. A part of him felt like intervening, but something told him to stand back when those two bickered. _They have the power to kill each other if they really desired to do so._ He thought, his huge yellow eyes furrowing. _I'll have to find a way to control them if this little team of ours will work together._

"Shut the hell up!" Cinder spat, her angry tone only showing Shigaraki weakness. "All you've done the past few months was sit there and drink alcohol while Torchwick and I went out into the field! Doesn't that seem cowardly to you?!"

"I call it smart." Shigaraki rebuttaled quickly. "I like to inspect my opponents from a distance and gain information about them. That's essentially what this Nomu was for." He looked down to the creature, and finally, after being left alone for a while the otherwise mortal wound on its stomach gradually began to seal up. "To gather information, and that's exactly what it did."

Cinder didn't look satisfied, but backed away as she let Tomura continue. "Because of that skirmish, we discovered that that redheaded girl has some sort of power that can gravely injure anything she deems a threat _and_ can vaporize Grimm essence." He walked up to the Nomu, squatting by its side as it continued its regeneration. "We implanted the Nomu with Grimm essence to see if that would augment its power in any way. And while it did, that girl had purged all of it from its body. Because of that, its regeneration ability and shock absorption powers had been weakened significantly."

" _And_ it appears whatever power that girl had also makes the boy's Semblance more powerful." Shigaraki finished. "There were many secrets that we have uncovered, and now that we know them, we can plan accordingly."

" **Yes. That is exactly right, Tomura Shigaraki."** A voice boomed from another computer, which had the words "Sound Only" across the screen. The three in the room turned towards the sound, any anger within themselves leaving as the tone of the voice gave a commanding presence in the warehouse. " **Despite your creation losing, we still have the upper hand in this war."**

"Do you have a plan?" Shigaraki asked the voice, Cinder noticing his eyes were filled with controlled hatred for...someone.

" **Yes. I want Cinder and Torchwick to take care of the next part of the operation. Roman's already out working on his part. Cinder, you will also put your two underlings to work, as well."** The Maiden in question smirked in victory as Shigaraki gave a confused look.

"Why not me?" He asked.

" **Because you, Tomura Shigaraki, have a special job..."** Tomura's eyes widened as the voice said those next words, which even caught Cinder and Kurogiri off guard.

" **Back at your home."**

* * *

Location: Beacon Academy

Ozpin exhaled deeply as he sat back down onto his chair. He had just gotten done with meeting up with the Police on what occurred over at the Docks of Vale a few hours ago that left many White Fang arrested, but with six injuries, five of which being his own students and one being a student of Haven. He watched as the Vale News went crazy with the headline: _Teams RWBY and INPT: Injured from a Monster?_ Ozpin closed those news articles. _They don't get that those students saved the city from potentially being destroyed by that monster._

Still, though, there were plenty of damages to go around, which Ozpin was forced to pay since his on students technically made those damages, and the blame goes to the ones on top. He wasn't facing any lawsuits for injuring his students, since they had technically gone in of their own accord, but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt over not being able to train them enough to face a threat like that.

He watched the distant footage from an onlooker on a video streaming website. Despite it being low quality, he could make out the energy that Ruby had created flowing towards Izuku, who then burst out of a huge pile of rubble and punched that thing across the ocean. _I think that this settles it._ Ozpin got to his feet, stroking his chin with his hand in thought. _Whatever Izuku's power is..._

 _It's not a mere Semblance. In fact..._

 _I might know what it is._

Ozpin's train of thought was cut off by a vibration from his scroll. Opening it, he realized it was a text message from Qrow, saying:

"The Queen is building an army. Are the kids ready?"

Ozpin's brow furrowed as he typed back, "No, not yet. Give them another year or so and they should be prepared."

The typing notification lasted a few seconds before Qrow replied back, "We don't have a year."

"How long, then?"

"Months, at best."

* * *

 _Two days later…_

Weiss and Todoroki found themselves in front of a hospital room door. With _Get Well Soon!_ Cards in the former's hands, she took a shaky breath in.

Shoto looked over to her. Bandages were wrapped around his head, obscuring most of the left side of his hair from view. He put a hand on her shoulder, as if mentally telling her that none of this was her fault. With that, Weiss rolled back her shoulders, wiped an lingering tears from her eyes, and opened the door to the first room electronically labeled "Xiao-Rose".

There were three twin-sized hospital beds, each occupied with a person. Yang was the closest to them, awake and greeting them with a weak smile, unlike her siblings, who were both still unconscious. She wasn't wearing a hospital gown, and rather multiple thick, white bandages wrapped around her chest and part of her midriff, while her lower body was concealed by the blanket. If the situation was any lighter, Weiss would have pointed out she looked like a half-formed mummy.

"Hey…" Weiss was the first one to speak after a moment of silence. "I brought you this!..." She meekly handed Yang the card, which she had custom-made. Yang opened the card, reading what the _Ice Princess,_ as she used to call her, had written inside.

"Thanks." She closed it and placed on the bedside table. "And don't worry about last night, we were all feeling a bit on edge…"

Todoroki shot Weiss a look, as if he was asking _Did you apologize for what you did last night?_ The elder Schnee gave a small nod, but Shoto seemed to ignore as he asked, "How's the damage?"

"Well…" She gestured to her torso, which was 60% covered in bandages. "I suffered from some internal bleeding and a few shattered ribs, but it's nothing that my Aura can't fix with time. The Doctor said I was the first one awake, surprisingly."

"What about the others?" The white-redhead asked. Weiss looked over at Ruby and Deku, and silently walked over to their beds and placed the cards on their respective tables.

"Blake suffered from a stab wound, which almost, but thankfully didn't, cut into a major artery. Sun had massive internal bleeding when he was taken in and had to have emergency surgery. Ruby's friend has gone missing, while Ruby herself just fell unconscious. I don't really know when she'll wake up."

"What about Rose?"

"His is the most…'peculiar case', as the Doctor said. His right arm was shattered, and his entire body, from his muscles to his bones, seemed like it had gone through some major physical stress, like stretching a rubber band to its limit."

"My guess is his Semblance." Todoroki interjected. "He was the one who put the Nomu down, but the amount of energy he released couldn't have been healthy."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Yang sighed as she laid her head back onto the pillow. "So how're you two doing? That head injury doesn't look so good."

This time, Weiss decided to speak. "I thankfully didn't get hurt, but Shoto got a moderate concussion. He can walk around fine, he just needs to take painkillers."

"I see…" Yang closed her eyes, trying to numb the pain by concentrating on anything besides the heat coming from her midsection. "So, what no-?"

"GAH!" A green blur shot upright in the corner of the trio's vision. Izuku winced as he realized his arm was in a cast, but the fierce, almost shocked look on his face stayed as the dominant emotion. After the surprise of Deku being shocked awake, Weiss and Shoto came to his side while Yang turned his body over to him. "Wh-What...the hell was…"

"Izuku!" The elder Schnee put her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Focus! Are you alright?"

"I...I don't know…" He looked around for a moment, clearly confused by his surroundings. He didn't know the first thing to say to them, let alone begin to describe in his mind what he had just seen. "I-I saw…"

"What did you see?" Shoto inquired tensely, his tone of voice deepening.

"I saw a person...they, they said that they'd come find me…" _Just like…_

 _"I'm going to come and find you...Just watch me."_

 _That dream I had with Todoroki._

Weiss didn't really know what to think of Izuku's sudden outburst. He'd been asleep for two whole days, and then sudden jerked up like the world was ending. She tightened her grip on his shoulders, trying to get him to concentrate. "What was their name?"

Deku covered half of his face in frustration. "I-I don't know…"

"Can you describe what they looked like?" Todoroki asked. _So he saw a person?_ His eyes narrowed. _This situation is just getting messier and messier..._ First the White Fang attack, then the Nomu slaughter, and now Deku is having some sort of premonition. _Whatever these experiences are that we're having...I don't like them. It's like they're bad omens, or something._

"They...were male…" Izuku tried stabilizing his breath as best he can so he can get the rest out. "And blonde. And...they definitely did _not_ look like they liked me."

* * *

 _Thousands of kilometers away…_

A student of Haven Academy gave an annoyed sigh as he zipped the last of his bags up. Throwing a bag over his shoulder and kicking the suitcase behind him, he boarded the Atlas-made plane to his next destination: Beacon Academy.

He checked his ticket: 25A. _Damn Economy class..._ He grumbled as he made his way through the aisles and towards the seat. _At least I get to look out a window._

As he got closer, he recognized the two people that were sitting with him. One of them had prominent blue hair and a face that he wanted to punch really badly, while the other was concealed in a black cloak with only his bird-like head being visible. He opened one eye at the person incoming, and respectfully got up and out of the way, leaving only the blue-hair to be... _dealt with_. "Tch." He practically stomped the rest of the way up to aisle 25. "Oi, idiot, move. I have the window seat."

"Ah, the leader of Team BLST. Always as lively as ever." He gave a toothy grin to the spiky blonde, only to be met with an even more ferocious scowl.

"Move, or I _will_ kill you."

"It would be wise for you to follow Tokoyami's example, Neptune." A new voice appeared behind the three of them. Neptune looked over to behind the boy he was currently blocking, to find the second member of BLST putting his luggage in the overhead compartment.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever _Ren._ " He casually got up and out of the way as the blonde quickly put his luggage away and slid down to the window seat. After a few seconds of passivity from him, Neptune and Tokoyami filed in quietly. Lie Ren shrugged, sliding down to the window seat in front of the trio and pulling out a half-read novel.

"So…" Neptune was the first to speak from the awkward silence. "Why are you all going to Beacon? You see, I'm going because my friend kind of just stowaway'd over there on his own and I want to meet up with him."

"Why didn't you just go on the boat with him?" Ren asked while he turned a page in the book he was reading.

"Um...that's a question I don't want to answer."

"Tch. Stop talking then." The blonde spat beside him as he pulled out some earbuds to drown out the idiot's blabbering.

"Rude! I just wanted to know Team BLST better, you know? Tokoyami, why do you want to go to Beacon?"

"..."

"I see. Comprehensive." Neptune sighed. No way was he getting any information out of him... _that faunus is as stoic as a statue._ He turned to the last person that he had yet to ask, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. The spiky-haired blonde grimaced as he took out his earbuds, which sounded faintly like metal.

"What do you want now, dumbass?"

"Why did you want to go to Beacon, Katsuki?"

"Tch." Katsuki put his earbuds back in, crossing his arms and looking out the window just as the plane was preparing for takeoff. "Because I have a feeling I know some people over there."

* * *

 **Oh yeah. Ya boi's here. Mr. King Explosion Murder's coming into town!**

 **(Also if you can figure out who the three people are that Izuku see in his vision then I will personally applaud you by putting your name in the Author's Notes)**

 ***ahem***

 **So this chapter has a _lot_ of stuff in it. From the fact that Bakugo and Ren are not only present in Remnant but also on the same team, to the fact that the villains have a plan as well as Ozpin, to the visions that Izuku's having, to the fact that Ruby's Silver Eyes activated two Volumes too early but shockingly _makes Izuku's Semblance more powerful_...yeah. Let's just say I've been planning this story out for a while, and I know that this chapter leaves a lot more questions than answers.**

 **But that was my goal when writing this. I wanted to leave this story on a semi-cliffhanger so that you all can predict what will happen next. I love talking about theories, so the next few volumes that come out will be even more fun to write as you get hit with twist after twist.**

 **But anyways, going into Volume 2, most of the cast will be injured. Yeah, even with Aura, the injuries they sustained will either cripple them for a while or make it so they can't fight at their best, which will makes battles in later Volumes interesting.**

 **Any questions that you have will be answered eventually, I assure you. So if you're wondering why Ruby's Silver Eyes make One For All more powerful, if you're wondering who's the voice behind the computer in the Villain's Hideout, if you're wondering why Ren is in Haven rather than in Beacon, if you're wondering why _Bakugo_ is in Haven...et cetera, et cetera, they will be answered down the road. But for now, well, you're stuck with theories and that's entertaining enough for me. I'm evil like that.**

 **So Volume 2. That will be coming soon. By soon, I mean a month to a few months. School is coming, and that's even more scary than a Nomu about to bash your face in. So I'll be primarily focusing on that, but I assure you that I will always be touching up and writing this story daily, even if I upload nothing for a substantial amount of time.**

 **Even if it takes years, I will finish this passion project. The things I have planned for it...oh boy, you have no idea.**

 **I'll see you all next time.**

 **Volume One- End**

 **Volume Two- Fall 2018**


	13. Recovery, Remembrance and Recruitment

**Hey everyone. Guess who's back? ME! WOOOOOO-**

 ***ahem*. I'm back, and shockingly in time. I _did_ say that Volume 2 would be coming in Fall of this year anddd guess what? It's...well, Fall of this year. Yay. Also fittingly, it's the same day as RWBY Volume 6, which I HOPE will be good. It looks good so far, so I have my hopes up. Hopefully it stays this way.**

 **Anyways, this is the first chapter of Volume 2, happening just before and slightly crossing into the _canon_ Volume 2 Chapter 1. Is everyone injured? Well, Let's just get this out of the way to clarify things:**

 **Blake, Yang, and Ruby have recovered. Sun's still in the hospital, and Deku's arm is still broken.**

 **Woo.**

 **Now, there's something in this chapter that will...confuse a lot of people, and if you end up being one of those people, I want you to not worry. Anything that seemingly isn't explained in this story WILL be explained with time, I just have to get there. I will leave NO plot-hole unfilled!**

 **On the other hand, if you _did_ figure it out, good job! I don't really want to spoil what you figured out, so if you did, please PM me about it instead of putting it in a review. I want the twists and turns in this story to stay fresh.**

 **By the way, remember the three people that Izuku saw in his vision the last chapter? Well, I regret to inform that none of you got it right...sorry, I can't put any names in. Some of you got close, though! Heck, I'll put in names anyways:**

 **Shout out to coolgirl526, jaciro500, Colvamoon999, and Infinite-Daydreams100.**

 **Anyways, without further ado, onto the chapter. Sorry it's a little short, but, well, it is just the beginning of the Volume. I plan most of them to be between 5,000 and 10,000 words, but some might be below, some might be higher.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Volume 2**

Chapter 1- Recovery, Remembrance, and Recruitment

All things considered, Izuku _hated_ being in a cast.

And it wasn't common that he used the word _hate_ , either. He just found having one of your limbs restricted as you tried to function in your daily life very...prohibiting. Heck, he was right handed, so any attempts to write, fight, heck, some things as simple as throwing a ball was a challenge for him.

It was safe to say that he was barred from doing laborious huntsman-training classes, which meant he had to sit in a classroom and study, which was his least favorite part of being in Beacon. He always wanted to get stronger, always wanted to test out his Semblance on his sisters and other opponents, but...being stuck like this made him feel homesick, like something crucial was missing in his life.

And he's been like this for the past month, and only next week will his cast finally come off. What fun.

The green-haired huntsman sighed aloud as the bell for lunch finally sounded, and he quickly packed up his things to go to the grand hall. As he lightly jogged down the halls, he accidentally bumped into a certain white-redhead. "Oh!" He blinked. "Todoroki, didn't see you there."

"Hey." The Schnee's monotonous tone suggested he didn't really mind being bumped into by Deku. "How's your classes?"

"Well, same old, same old…" Izuku sighed as he scratched his head with his only free hand. "All I've been doing the past few weeks is just a bunch of reading and practicing how to do...well, _everything_ with my left hand. It's a pain, really…"

"I see…" Todoroki shrugged. He didn't know what it was like to lose function of an entire limb for a month, so all he could really do is passively sympathize. "We got to head out into the Emerald Forest again this morning."

"You WHAT?!" Izuku yelled out as a group of students walking past the two huntsmen gave him a strange look. Needless to say, he quickly calmed down and lowered his voice. "Why without me?!"

"Your arm."

"Yeah, but couldn't they have waited until next week?! I'm dying of boredom over here! I can't eat properly, I can't fight _at all_ , and all my writing looks like my sister's in kindergarten!"

"Which one?"

"...Not relevant. Point is, couldn't they have waited until I could use my arm again? Heck, it's even a challenge to wipe my own-"

"Hey guys!" A feminine voice all-too familiar to the two boys, particularly _Todoroki_ , caught their attention before Deku could finish his statement. An orangehead stepped into view, accompanied by one of the world's greatest student Huntsman: Pyrrha Nikos. "How was your classes?"

"Ugh…" Deku sighed. He really didn't want to rant about his pain again. Todoroki just shrugged, which was his language for 'Yeah, it was fine'.

"Cool, cool." Nora smiled before literally skipping over towards the cafeteria. "Whelp, off to get lunch! You better keep up, teammates! HAHA!" Deku gave a weak smile at Nora's cheery nature.

"At least she hasn't changed." The greenhead said.

"So, how are you two holding up?" Pyrrha finally found her chance to talk as the three members of INPT walked down the halls a few dozen steps behind Nora. "I wish I knew about what had happened at the docks when it all went down...I could have helped, you know."

"Yeah, well…" Izuku rubbed the back of his head. Honestly, having Pyrrha and Nora there- the most skilled and most hard-hitting teammates in his group, respectively- might have turned the tides when fighting the Nomu, but…

 _That thing..._ Izuku's eyes narrowed a little. _Even if they were there, anything could have happened. If it wasn't for me doing_ that _, then we might have all…_

He shook his head. It was a month since then, and he had plenty of time to think about what had gone down.

Todoroki and Weiss had told him everything that had happened to him in that fight. How he had blown away all the Dust, how his irises had turned silver, and how his speed had actually _surpassed_ Ruby's semblance as he smashed that Nomu into oblivion. _But...how…_

 _How could I not remember any of that?_

That fact that he retained _none_ of that information puzzled him. It was like his body was in autopilot- like his own Semblance was controlling his body.

And once more...what the heck was the energy that came out of Ruby? And why did it make his Semblance _stronger_?

He felt like that battle had raised _too_ many questions. From Ruby's energy, to whatever the Nomu was, to his _own_ Semblance, to whomever or _whatever_ Roman Torchwick was working for…

All of it felt connected, somehow. He had a sinking feeling that it all was leading up to something big...and that he and his friends might be stuck in the middle of it all.

But even worse... _what about these weird visions I have?_

First it was just words, words coming from unknown voices...then, it turned into him being in straight up different realities, with people he didn't know, and in situations that weren't familiar at all…

 _What the hell is going on?_ There was still so much he didn't know, that he still had to figure out. Unfortunately, he could barely do any investigation with- _My damn arm broken!_ He shook his head after he had realized he had gone several moments and still hadn't answered Pyrrha's question. "U-Um...well, I'm sure you could have, but-"

"-It's all in the past now." Todoroki finished for him. "For now, we need to figure out our next move. Our enemy's probably already on the move, so we'll need to act accordingly."

"Um…" A sweat drop appeared on Pyrrha's brow. "Not to be all _goody-two shoes_ , but...don't you think we should leave this investigation to the Vale Police and Beacon Academy? I mean, they can handle it themselves, right? For now, we should focus on our studies to become Huntsmen ourselves."

"..." Todoroki stared at his left hand as he absorbed that info. Yes, it was true that he was still, on paper, a small part of all of what was going on, but considering the last time he trusted an adult…

 _That left side of yours...it disgusts me._

"I don't trust the authorities to handle everything themselves." The Schnee answered. "We'll get to the bottom of this…" Deku nodded in agreement, and Pyrrha just gave a sigh of defeat.

"Alright, I trust your judgment." The redheaded amazon said as she walked a few steps ahead of them. "But if things go south...I'll be there to pull you out." She walked ahead and got lost in the crowd of students.

"So…" Izuku turned to Todoroki after he knew Pyrrha was far away enough. "Have you had any new visions, lately?"

"...One." Shoto said hesitantly. "I'm guessing you would like to know what I saw?" Izuku nodded earnestly. "Okay…"

* * *

The first thing Shoto realized he was doing in his dream was _running_. Not running to save someone, not running to get somewhere as quickly as possible…

No, from his breath, and the speed of his sprint...he was running _from_ something. Through dense foliage and the towering oak trees, it vaguely reminded him of when he had ran away from the Deathstalker with Nora, but something told him whatever was behind him was _much_ more malicious.

Then, he heard it. Like a huge jet turbine slowly being turned on, a deep rumbling that was sweeping upwards in pitch. A green light began glowing behind him, slowly getting brighter as the sound became louder. _Oh no..._ He instinctively turned around and, with his right foot, summoned a _huge_ glacier of pure blue ice as it broke through the trees and into the open air, hopefully making a thick and impassable barrier between him and his chaser-

It happened so fast that Shoto couldn't even properly process it. From his perspective, all he saw was a green flash of light blind his eyes before blinking them open to reveal a near perfect, circular _tunnel_ in his glacier large enough to fit a truck, dripping with melted ice and steaming from vapor.

In actuality, a huge, viridescent beam of energy burned through Todoroki's glacier like a knife through butter, barely missing his body by a _hair_. The force of the blast caused his hair to sweep back as his pupils shrunk to pinpoints in fear of _whatever_ was in there. When the light finally faded, a figure in the tunnel started towards him, holding a _body_ in their hand.

Shoto, for one of the only times in his life, could only stand there in paralyzed fear. He was scared; _terrified_ , even, as the silhouette approached. As they got closer, Todoroki's eyes widened further when he realized the figure was a _woman_.

"Hey, don't make it seem like this is personal, kid." The woman stood in full view, and her confident smile and long brown hair made her seem like some sort of model. Immediately behind her was a girl in a tracksuit, the blank look on her face burning into Todoroki's soul. In the woman's hand was the unconscious body of...someone. They had short, blonde, spiky hair, with black pants and a black shirt. He couldn't get a look at the person's face; they were being held by the back of the neck and looked to at least be _conscious_...but barely. The woman threw the body to the ground, and suddenly, it clicked in his mind.

 _That guy's the...same one that Rose saw!_

" _They...were male…" Izuku tried stabilizing his breath as best he can so he can get the rest out. "And blonde. And...they definitely did not look like they liked me."_

 _What the hell...is happening?_

"It's not like I'm doing this out of hatred, or anything." The woman smiled, with a hint of sadism under her breath. A green sphere of light appeared in front of her, and in that moment, the entirety of Shoto's life felt like it was running on loop in his mind. "It's just business."

The ball transformed into a beam of light; smaller than the last one, but definitely still big enough to rip the Schnee's stomach right out of his midsection. He closed his eyes. _This is it._

He heard a metallic sound ring out. Then a second later, an _ear-piercing_ roar of what Shoto could only describe as eerily similar to a lightning strike blasted forth, knocking him backwards. He opened his eyes, and in that moment, saw a yellowish beam redirect the green one- away from Todoroki as he collapsed to the ground.

Coughing, he stood up, but not without his legs still feeling like jelly. Looking to his right, he saw where the attack had come from... _a...girl…?_ His vision began to blur as the chestnut-haired girl turned to his collapsed body. He saw her mouth the words 'Don't worry, I'll get you out of this', before he closed his eyes.

* * *

"And that's what happened." Shoto finished, still staring at his right hand. "Whoever those people were...I have a feeling we might see them soon." He turned to Deku. "Don't you see, Rose? There's something about the two of us…"

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Izuku put his hand on his chin. "It's not normal, seeing all of these things like it's some sort of omen...what do you suppose we do?"

"..." Todoroki grew silent. In all honesty, after everything that's happened, everything he's seen in his visions… "I don't know. I did say we should start making a move ourselves, but in reality, I don't know where to start."

"Well...silver lining." Deku patted Shoto on the back before walking up to the huge doors to the grand cafeteria. "We can start with breakfast, maybe talk about it with our team and our sisters. What do you think?"

"Yeah, that sounds good." Todoroki nodded slightly, and Izuku opened the door-

-Only to see the entire cafeteria in an all-out war. Tables overturned, chairs in pieces, various food items on the ground and on the walls and ceiling as teams threw food at each other, from chicken, to fruit, to whole milk cartons. At the end of the huge hall was a stack of tables, with Nora at the top, laughing cockily and chanting:

"I'm Queen of the Castle, I'm Queen of the Castle!" She cheered, with Pyrrha at the base of the pyramid, using a tray and baguette as a makeshift sword and shield. The redhead was like the Knight of the Castle, defending it from one group in particular…

"NOW! NOW IS THE TIME WE SETTLE THE DEBATE!" A red-hooded girl squeezed and exploded a juice box. "TEAM RWBY WILL TOPPLE INPT ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

"I'd like to see you try, filthy heathens!" Nora yelled from above, and then quickly noticed the two boys of her team blankly staring at her like she-and the rest of the students participating in this- were absolutely insane. "Hey, Todoroki, Izuku! Get your butts over here right now, we're gonna wreck your sisters'- and Blake's- faces!"

Both of them sighed as they entered the cafeteria that looked like a hurricane had just ran through it. As they got to where Pyrrha was, Deku was the first to protest. "Do we _have_ to-"

"YES!" Everyone yelled out in unison. The green-haired huntsman straightened his short tie as green coils of energy unfurled around him. _I can't use my right arm, but…_

Todoroki put his right foot forward, preparing a blast of ice to be fired at any moment. Pyrrha locked her eyes at RWBY through self-made slits in the tray-shield. Deku clenched his left fist as he rose his Semblance to 6%. Nora kept...haughtily laughing from the top of the table-castle.

 _Let's do this._

A mutual roar from both sides of the cafeteria triggered the start of the battle, as RWBY and INPT charged each other like two wrath-filled rhinoceros.

As they did battle, four figures stood at the sidelines, away from all the food and debris as the two teams fought for dominance. One was in civilian clothing, such as the boy with spiky blonde hair listening to metal, while the others were in their huntsmen uniforms.

"They're pretty good, huh?" The blue-haired one, Neptune, put his hands on his hips while he watched them duke it out. "I know Sun told me to bring you guys to the cafeteria to meet them, I just didn't think it would turn out like this. I just wish he was here...I wonder what had happened to him that would have put him in the hospital…did Sun tell you anything about that, Katsuki?"

"Tch." The blonde took one earbud out of his ear as he watched Deku dodge a whole darn turkey moving at near-supersonic speeds. _That's him alright._

"Um, Katsuki?"

"Quiet, you nerd." He spat, causing Neptune to be metaphorically slapped in the face by the word 'nerd'. "I'm trying to think…"

"*sigh*..." Neptune turned to Tokoyami, only to see his eyes closed in thought as well. _This is starting to look a lot like the plane ride here._

He then turned to Ren, but...there was something off about him. "R-Ren?" The oriental-themed huntsman's eyes widened at presumably someone in either RWBY or INPT, but at this angle, Neptune had no way of figuring out exactly _who_. "Are you oka-?"

"No...way…" Ren dropped his book as he watched the orangette begin to fight that long-haired blonde with a watermelon on a stick. "Is that... _her?_ "

Neptune blinked in response. "Who?"

* * *

 _A few weeks later..._ (just before the events at Mountain Glenn)

"...It appears whatever power that girl had also makes the boy's Semblance more powerful." Shigaraki finished. "There were many secrets that we have uncovered, and now that we know them, we can plan accordingly."

" **Yes. That is exactly right, Tomura Shigaraki."** A voice boomed from another computer, which had the words "Sound Only" across the screen. The three in the room turned towards the sound, any anger within themselves leaving as the tone of the voice gave a commanding presence in the warehouse. " **Despite your creation losing, we still have the upper hand in this war."**

"Do you have a plan?" Shigaraki asked the voice, Cinder noticing his eyes were filled with controlled hatred for...someone.

" **Yes. I want Cinder and Torchwick to take care of the next part of the operation. Roman's already out working on his part. Cinder, you will also put your two underlings to work, as well."** The Maiden in question smirked in victory as Shigaraki gave a confused look.

"Why not me?" He asked.

" **Because you, Tomura Shigaraki, have a special job..."** Tomura's eyes widened as the voice said those next words, which even caught Cinder and Kurogiri off guard.

" **Back at your home."**

* * *

"'Back at my home', huh?" A certain hooded man stepped through a coal-black portal and onto the sidewalk of a towering city. Skyscrapers were the dominant buildings for miles around, and huge wind turbines dotted the districts. It certainly was an urban jungle, but he had seen this city so many times that he had gotten used to all the hustle and bustle.

 _I did grow up here, after all..._ Shigaraki thought as he checked his scroll. An anonymous sender had given him the location of the so-called _interview area_ , where he assumed there would be new recruits for him to interrogate. He blankly walked down the street with his head down, and almost didn't notice himself bumping into a girl ahead of him.

"Ah!" The teenaged girl made a small yelp before turning to him. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Shigaraki looked up from under his hood, making sure the girl didn't get a full view of his face. She looked regular enough: blue eyes, long black hair, and a small white flower on the left side of her head. "It's fine," He murmured. _If this were any other time, I might be inclined to kill you._ He thought in his head. "I'll watch where I'm going." The girl gave a small smile of apology and slight concern before turning away to mind her own business.

 _You're lucky I'm in a hurry._ Shigaraki's face hardened a little as he continued on.

After a few more minutes of walking, he had finally reached his destination: a restaurant called "Joseph's". Walking in was a small challenge for him, as his suspicious look had garnered some stares by both customers and employees, but ultimately he had convinced them that he was meeting with some people here, and they let him past the front desk.

He was met by a petite hand raising itself high into the air and waving to get his attention. Briskly walking towards the booth in the corner of the restaurant, he had found the people he was looking for, or at least, he assumed.

A few minutes prior, he had checked the briefing to make sure he had gotten the recruits' descriptions right: _four subjects...all female._

 _One with shoulder-length black hair who constantly looks tired..._ He glanced at the girl who was passed out on the table. _Check._

 _One with bobbed brown hair most likely wearing a hoodie..._ Shigaraki exchanged looks with the person immediately closest to him, and was taken aback by her petite stature. She was probably no older than twelve, and yet her death-stare would cause any person, male or female, to be unnerved. Luckily, Tomura had seen his fair share of intimidating people, so he let it go and looked to the ones on the other side of the table.

 _A blonde wearing a beret..._ He blinked at the chipperness of the girl waving at him. _And finally…_

"-So are you going to keep staring at us creepily, or are you going to tell us why we're here?" The final person Shigaraki was checking over gave him a narrowed stare. She was easily the tallest in the group, only a few inches shorter of Tomura himself. Her choice of clothing was fashionable, and it was clear she was the most well-endowed of the girls. "Because I don't like to have my time wasted." The woman signaled, and Tomura took that chance to pull up a chair and sit down at the end of the booth.

"Nice to meet you too…" Shigaraki spoke under his breath, hopefully quiet enough so the four girls couldn't hear him. "Hello, my name's Shigaraki, and you four have been called because my... _associates_ and I need you four for something." Tomura put emphasis on _associates_ , hinting at a tone that meant 'people I work with but don't exactly like'.

"It sounds like you aren't very fond of your coworkers." The blonde interjected, tapping her manicured finger on the table. "You gotta learn to be friendly with the people you work with. Right, Kinuhata?"

"Mm." The orange-hooded girl seemed to agree as she flipped through the menu. "Not getting along is _ultra-_ not cool."

Tomura sighed. It was clear that the group his boss had given him was on the more... _immature_ side. Half of them looked like they were barely in middle school, and that puzzled Tomura to no end. They were even younger than the kids that had defeated the Nomu... _I guess age doesn't have much to do with it_ , he concluded. _It's only whether or not they can do their job._

"Listen," Tomura cut in, not wanting to be lost in the girls' constant chattering. "I'm offering you a _lot_ of money...500,000 to defend a train containing precious cargo from these four targets." He pulled out a vanilla folder, and out of that, four pictures of four girls, each subtitled with their names. The leader of the group took two, while the two youngest grabbed one each.

"Yang Xiao Long…" The small brown haired one, who, if Tomura was following correctly, was named Kinuhata, muttered as she sized up the blonde in the picture. "Doesn't look too strong, but I'll take her. Ultra-dissatisfied, though."

"Ruby Rose…" The beret-wearing girl's eyes widened as she saw the huge scythe she was wielding. "I call dibs on this girl! Mugino, can I, can I?! I _really_ want to hang that scythe in my room, it looks so cool!"

"Ugh, fine, Frenda, you can take her." Mugino's face softened a little at her colleague's constantly cheerful attitude. She then examined the two pictures she received. One had a black bow in her hair and overall black theme to her color scheme, while the other was the polar opposite, opting for more white and light blue colors. Both wielded weapons, swords to be exact, with one dual-wielding blades while the other had a rapier. "Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee...I guess that leaves me and Takitsubo with these two." She turned back to Shigaraki, who was patiently waiting for the four's antics to quell a little before putting in his two cents.

"We accept."

"Good," Shigaraki nodded before standing up from his seat and pulling out a small card with information regarding him and his own group, and handing it to Mugino. "You'll meet me and my coworkers at the location mentioned on that card in exactly twenty-four hours from now." He checked his watch, and it read 10:00 AM. "We'll give you a more detailed rundown of what exactly you'll be dealing with then, consider this meeting just a quick notice. Don't be late."

He started towards the door to let the four girls have their breakfast, but stopped after a few steps. Frenda was the first to notice. "Is something wrong, sir?"

"Do you four have a group name?" He inquired with curiosity. It wasn't as much he wanted to know their name, it was more of he wanted to know if they had a group name in the first place. _I guess it's because our group has no name yet…_

Tomura Shigaraki. Cinder Fall and her two underlings. Kurogiri. Roman Torchwick, and probably that neopolitan-haired girl he saw accompanying him the last time he saw him. _...Is a group name really important compared to what we're doing, though?_

Still, he wanted to know.

Mugino gave a dark smile, with Frenda doing her best to emulate, while Kinuhata just gave Shigaraki a blank stare. Takitsubo kept snoring.

"Call us...ITEM."

* * *

 **To those who know _exactly_ what the latter half of the chapter was...I truly applaud you. Send me a PM if you have!**

 **For those who haven't figured it out, again, there's no worries. I'll get to it in due time.**

 **Anyways, there's not really much to say about this one. It's just a refresher, y'know, to get you back into my story since I haven't uploaded anything in a while...**

 **Again, sorry it's a little short, but I'll make later chapters twice as long at the least.**

 **By the way...next chapter, I'll be fully writing out the food fight between INPT and RWBY. Buckle yourselves in, because that one's a doozy.**

 **As for the Investigation arc (the one where RWBY gets their new uniforms), and the Mountain Glenn arc...well, be prepared for quite a bit of things to be edited around. It won't be absolute, DRASTIC changes, but they'll be changes nonetheless and I hope you guys will enjoy them.**

 **The things I have planned for this story, man...we've only scratched the surface of this iceberg.**

 **I'll see you all later (hopefully in the next week or two; month at the most)!**


	14. The Greatest Battle In History

**I'M BACK! I'M NOT DEAD! WOOHOO!**

 **Sorry for my absence everyone. A lot of stuff happened last semester. I don't want to get into it, but yes, it slowed down my process to write. I can't say I'm out of the woods yet, but trust me. I'm not done with this story, nor will I be until I'm done with it. That's a promise!**

 **Now, to this story. It's approaching its one-year anniversary, and I'm excited for it. I'm planning on getting Chapter 2 of Volume Two out on that date: February 16th, 2019.**

 **Oh yeah- Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays in general lol. I know it's been more than a month since all of that, but still. May as well be late than never.**

 **There's so many things this Volume I want to show you guys. During this Volume, the real plot starts to roll. ITEM will play a big role in the second half, and if you watch _a certain_ anime, you may get the hint that this story may go beyond (plus ultra) just Remnant. Izuku and the others will face people they've never faced before, and trust me- I'll try my best to make the finale not as rushed as it was originally.**

 **RWBY is good, but it has its problems. I kinda want to fix it, but with my own twist. That's what this story is for.**

 **This will be the day I'm coming back. Officially. Enjoy this bonus chapter as I finish Chapter 2! Set date: February 16th.**

* * *

Bonus Chapter- The Greatest Battle. In History.

"JUSTICE WILL BE SWIFT! JUSTICE WILL BE PAINFUL! IT WILL BE...DELICIOUS!"

"YEAHHHH-!"

In the middle of their rallying cry, RWBY suddenly found themselves stuck. In a giant glacier.

Across the dining hall, Todoroki opted to try and end the fight early by _blasting_ them all with his ability. He could _feel_ Nora's stare of disappointment rip into the back of his head like a drill. "What?" He asked without looking. "The most decisive battles are won swiftly and effectively. And I'd say that that was pretty effecti-"

"NICE TRY, ICY-HOT!"

"Icy-wha?"

Looking back at Team RWBY, the leader was standing to the side, and probably used her Semblance to dodge the attack. Blake was also with her; apparently she used her shadows to evade it as well. Yang and Weiss were the only ones still stuck, but that didn't bother the two of them.

Closing her eyes, the Schnee created a circle below her body and turned it black, strengthening the gravity around herself to cause the ice to crack. Then, she stepped out with no problem, dusting off her uniform.

Yang, on the other hand…

"Ow, ow ow! So cold! I _knew_ I should have worn full stockings today…!" Charging up her Semblance, she burst the area around her and broke free, her hair spiking up and glowing for a moment as she leapt into the air and landed next to Weiss.

Nora kept staring at Todoroki. " _Swift and Effectively_ , you say?"

"..." Shoto sighed. In reality, he knew it wouldn't be easy to quell those girls. He wanted this fight to end as fast as possible- both to satiate his colleagues appetite for destruction, and also so he could get to studying and working out in the on-campus gym.

Nora made the first move. She ran up to a table filled with whole watermelon and flipped it- sending the giant fruit careening towards RWBY.

Pyrrha grabbed a few baguettes and began throwing them like spears, and Izuku…

"Aw, man!" He saw Yang punch through the watermelons with actual fully cooked _turkeys_ on either of her hands, and making a beeline straight towards him. She threw a right hook to start, which Izuku quickly evaded and backed away using his Semblance. "Uh, Yang! What's with that fire in your eyes?! This is supposed to be for fun!"

"I _am_ having fun!" She replied, her smirk ever-present. "I'll have even more fun if I beat the crap outta ya!"

"Oi! I have a broken arm, I don't think that's- AH!" Izuku was forced to dodge another leg kick, then a swing of her left arm. He couldn't block- half of his defense was currently in a cast, so all he could do was play keepaway until Yang tired out. And considering he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night... _this will not end well._

Meanwhile, Blake and Pyrrha were having a marvelous baguette battle- flipping through the air like combating ballerinas. Eventually. Pyrrha found an open point in Blake's guard and stabbed the end of the breadstick into her, sending her flying and also causing her to wince. That hit had dug into the wound where the Nomu had stabbed her. _Ow…!_

Ruby was using a tray as a makeshift skateboard, blazing through the cafeteria tables and knocking over glass and china like a tornado. She evaded the baguette spears Pyrrha was throwing, ducking under one as she approached the redheaded Amazon. Getting close, she dropped the tray and drop kicked her- knocking her back and causing her to backroll towards yet another baguette, which she grabbed and started running towards Ruby with.

 _Oh boy!_ In a duel of swords- or bread- Pyrrha held the advantage over everyone. Luckily, the otherwise quick-ending fight was interrupted by a _giant wave of ketchup._

Weiss was the one who activated it. Gathering up as much ketchup bottles as she could, she used a Gravity Glyph on all of them, crushing them and sending the contents _flying_ down the mess hall.

On the opposing side, Todoroki gathered a bunch of mustard bottles and did the same, however he couldn't crush them.

That, he left to Nora.

"Coming through!" Nora had somehow stuck a metal pipe into a watermelon and used it as a hammer. Swinging through Yang and Izuku's fight- in which she clocked the former into the wall-, she dida flip through the air as she _slammed_ the watermelon into the mustard bottles.

The red and yellow liquids burst simultaneously, slamming together roughly in the middle and coating everything it touched in a layer of viscous, yet delicious, sauce.

They weren't done, however.

Weiss was shocked to find a swordfish- yes, an _actual_ swordfish-, and used it as its named entailed, charging through the lake of hot dog condiment and straight towards Todoroki. "There's _one_ thing that I still have over you!" She yelled, her jealousy and insecurity in full display for all to see. " _How to fight with a weapon!_ " She stabbed the swordfish forwards- but Todoroki silently dodged it and, using his Semblance, covered the floor in Ice.

Seeing that Weiss was wearing shoes not acclimated to the substance, she slipped: right in front of Nora.

"Nightey-niiiiight~!" _SLAM!_

The Huntress was sent flying, and crashed into a pillar at the opposite end of the mess hall. Her body was caught by Ruby, who began to cry out her name. "Weiss?...Weiss?! WEISS! NOOOOOO!"

Even _Izuku_ couldn't decide if she was kidding about that or not. Still, though, they were four to two- Blake had given up due to abdominal pains thanks to her wound acting up again, and Weiss...well, she really couldn't do anything right now.

They weren't done, though. Laying Weiss in a safe corner of the room, Ruby stood tall as Yang came up to her, recovered from her nasty crash into the wall by Nora. They held hands, and suddenly all four members of INPT felt uneasy.

"Oi! Izuku! What're they doing? They're _your_ sisters!"

"Don't look at me! Sisters tend to hold a lot of secrets from their brothers!"

 _I can attest to that..._ Todoroki thought.

"Stay on guard, you three." Pyrrha said, holding her baguette like a lance. "I don't like the look of this…"

Suddenly, Ruby's semblance activated at 10% propelling her fast enough to spin around and _throw_ Yang thanks to acceleration by inertia. She was flying at speeds even Pyrrha couldn't fully comprehend, but Izuku could still see her coming.

"CRAP!" Deku activated Full Cowl and jumped to the back of their side of the cafeteria, then _launched_ himself forward using the wall as a propellant. With his Semblance at 10%, he wasn't as strong as Yang, but he was certainly more agile.

They met in the middle, with Deku's fist about to meet Yang's in the most epic clash in the history of-

 _CRASHHH!_ The two punches collided in the middle, causing the glass in the stories-tall windows to shatter and tables and chairs to be knocked back. The puddle of ketchup and mustard below them parted thanks to the shockwave, and burst into the air in colorful splashes.

Pain rocketed up Izuku's arm as he realized his muscles were aching from the high percentage he was at. Still, he had to beat Yang- and _fast_.

"What's wrong, Izuku?!" Yang teased as they began to fall towards the ground, their collision beginning to subside.

"Nothing…!" The green-haired huntsman smirked. "You...should be worried-!" He suddenly broke the lock between their two hands and back-flipped in mid-air, temporarily pushing his Semblance to 15% and _kicking_ Yang's chin with his boot.

She was sent _flying_ , breaking the ceiling and soaring beyond, with a comical "AHHHH!" Fading into the distance. Izuku landed on his feet.

He'd done it. He actually beat his sister.

"Oh my gosh!" Ruby put her hands on her cheeks as she realized her brother's accomplishment. "Izuku! You _actually_ did it!"

However, Deku was too tired to even register her comments. He was... _painfully_ exhausted by his push a minute ago, and he felt his leg, arm, and even his broken arm _burning_.

"You really think _that_ would stop me, bro?!"

 _Oh no._

Everyone tilted their heads up as they saw Yang through the giant hole in the top of the mess hall. She had her turkey fist cocked- where she got it was beyond anyone's comprehension at this point, but it seemed like she was about to crash back down like a meteor and _crush_ Izuku with her next hit.

And considering he was too tired to counter it…

"Izuku!" Nora shouted from behind him, rushing forward to save her teammate. "Get outta the wayyyy!"

He wasn't one to back down from a challenge, though. Putting Full Cowl up to the highest he possibly could- 5%, he jumped up-ready to face Yang again as she fell.

He knew he was probably going to fail.

But if there was that chance of victory, no matter how small…

 _A huntsman should always take it!_

With a triumphant cry of war, Izuku cocked his left fist back, and it was already burning from the hit before. Yang smirked widely as her right fist cocked back as well.

They got closer, and closer, and closer, and…!

"NORA GET OUT OF THE-!"

The orangette had gotten in the way for reasons beyond Izuku's understand. He had thankfully brought his fist back before he made contact, but Yang didn't. Instead, she delighted in the chance to take out two birds with one stone, and _slammed_ her turkey into Nora's back, pushing her down at breakneck speeds and hitting Izuku in the process.

 _BOOM!_ They crashed into the middle of the mess hall, leaving a decently-sized crater.

Izuku lay flat on his back as a near-unconscious Nora groaned atop him. "Nora...why…?"

"Because…" She started, "I wanted...to save you…!"

"Well look how _that_ turned out, you idiot!"

"Shut up-! Ow, okay, my stomach…"

Yang stood triumphantly above the duo as they bickered, and raised her hand into the air as she cheered. "Yeah! Victory for Team RWBY!"

"You go, Yang!" Ruby cheered. "Teach 'em who's boss-YANG LOOK OUT!"

"Wha- URGH!" A baguette pierced into her back at sonic speeds, causing her to grunt. From the right angle, it seemed as if she was skewered by it, but it was too soft to actually do that. Yang fell to her knees from the hit, and fell to the ground.

"YANG! NO!" The red-haired huntress cried out as her sister collapsed. Yet another friend hath bitten the dust.

Todoroki glared at Pyrrha. "Did you _really_ have to throw it that hard?"

"Sorry!"

It was two-on-one. Todoroki and Pyrrha, arguably the most powerful and most skilled members of INPT, respectively. One who ended fights in a moment's notice, and the other with the ability to outmaneuver her opponents with smart, agile techniques.

Against Ruby, a 15-year-old huntress two years younger than a typical freshman of Beacon, whose saving grace was running away really fast, and a sniper-scythe that wasn't present.

There was no option to run for Ruby. Either she swallow her pride and give up, giving INPT the "Best First-Year Team" Trophy, or she try one more, very dangerous and risky tactic.

And considering she was a teenage girl whose biggest influences were two siblings who liked jumping into fights haphazardly, she opted for the second option.

She got into a running stance. Instantly, Todoroki and Pyrrha put up their guards. Then, she ran.

 _Ran_ at sonic-level speeds. Speeds that the last two members of INPT had to quickly react to as everything in the mess hall was swirling in her vortex of air created by her pure speed.

She jumped, and began spinning, turning into a red spinning mass that accelerated her velocity, making the vortex behind her more poignant. It was now, or never.

Shoto _slammed_ his right foot into the ground. This was his only option to stop the entire cafeteria from actually blowing up. He sent out another massive glacier of Ice, sending it straight at the oncoming Ruby.

The two Semblances met in the middle once more. Ruby's own body acted like a drill, and it broke through layer after layer of stalagmites, shattering the ice and causing fragments to fly everywhere. The assortment of tables, chairs, cans, food, and condiments all crashed into Todoroki's Ice, which stopped it from going much further. Ruby's vortex was slowed, but some of the ice broke off and flew into the huntress's ever growing shockwave of speed. Pyrrha was caught up in it- a huge slab of ice smacked her in the head, knocking her out cold.

The leader of RWBY broke through the glacier completely, causing the entire structure to collapse, and implode, kicking up a massive layer of steam. Even though she managed to pull through, she had been slowed to a velocity that couldn't cause tornadoes of various foodstuffs.

However, it was still fast enough for her to hit Todoroki with the force of a cannonball. The white-redhead grunted loudly as pain shot through his entire body as he was sent back at breakneck speeds. He _slammed_ into the back wall, and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

Ruby slowed to a halt, her head sore from the headbutt she gave Shoto. She coughed a little as she stood up and looked around.

In front of her lay Todoroki, and to her right, Pyrrha. Behind her was a huge mass of ice, among various pieces of food, cans, and tables. Deku and Nora's bodies lay in an indent in the ground, with Yang next to them. Weiss was passed out on the opposite side of the mess hall, and Blake had most likely left to the Nurse's office; she was complaining about her wound from a few weeks ago acting up.

But nevertheless...she was the last one standing.

RWBY had won. They had _actually_ won. Against her all-around versatile brother, Weiss's overpowered brother, arguably the most skilled huntress in Beacon, and a girl who was basically a tank and powerhouse.

She walked up to Izuku and Nora's laying bodies, and cocked a smile, squatting down next to them. "Alright bro...admit it."

Deku sighed. He _really_ was too sore to do much right now, and so heeded Ruby's words. "Alright... _Team RWBY is officially better than Team INPT._ "

"Andddd?"

"Ugghhhh, do I have to?"

"Yes. Or else I'm taking away all of your manga and reading it for myself."

"... _And_ we will now and forevermore be known as Team _Inept_."

"Heh heh!"

 _Clap. Clap. Clap._

"Hm?" Ruby looked up towards the entrance. There were four people- one with green and white clothing, one who looked like a bird faunus, one who had blue hair and a rather attractive look, and the last…

Blonde hair, mean look on his face. _He was probably the one who was clapping..._ Ruby thought. Earbuds were in his ears- Ruby imagined he was probably listening to metal. He and the teen with a ponytail walked up first, with the other two conversing in the back.

"C-Can I help you two?" Ruby asked naively as they approached.

The blonde-haired kid ignored her, and instead started daggers into Izuku. Ruby quickly looked down at her brother- to find his expression...well, the one word that came to her mind was _shock_.

"It's…" Ruby turned her head over to Nora as she spoke, and realized the orangette's eyes were wide open at the dark-haired man.

"You…" The boy muttered at Nora.

Ruby looked at Nora, then at the dark haired kid, then at the blonde, then back at Deku, and then back again, many times. She had... _no_ idea what was going on.

"Oi, idiot." The spiky-haired blonde said to Deku, taking out his earbuds. "You and I need to talk."

* * *

 **I hope you're all strapped in, it's about to get wild.**

 **Katsuki and Izuku have just met. Nora and Ren have reunited.**

 **Questions shall be answered, and the plot shall thicken, hehe.**

 **And before you ask: Yes, Nora and Ren's backstory is completely the same. They were just separated for the sake of this story. Don't worry- they won't be coming apart any time soon.**

 **There's not much to say about this chapter other than I really wanted to write it. I hope I did the food fight justice! I really wanted to change it up-with Ren and Jaune not in the fight, the dynamics between the two teams are changed a lot. I still wanted Ruby to win at the end though, just so I can make the oke about INPT's name haha!**

 **Chapter 2 will cover...well, Chapter 2 of the original, maybe a bit into Chapter 3. The planned amount of chapters for this Volume is about 10, with a few split into two parts. Again, wanna add some content, and make the finale more pizazzy.**

 **That's all I have for today. Look out for Chapter 2 mid-February! And chapter 3...expect it in March. In fact, I'll try and get back on track for monthly posts.**

 **I'll try. If I don't, don't be surprised lol. I'll see you all later!**


	15. Inevitable

**Happy 1-Year Anniversary Everyone!**

 **Exactly 365 days ago, I released the first prologue to this story, _Red and White._ It's been a crazy ride since then, both personally, and also with this story. Over 50,000 views, almost 300 favorites and 382 followers...I can't thank you guys enough; I never thought this story could gain this much traction, and I thank you for sticking with it for literally a year.**

 **Back then, I had a clear vision of how this story would go. However, through the months of me writing it and planning it, it's changed from then to now. _Drastically_. **

**I guess last actual chapter was the start, and from here on out, this is where it kicks off.**

 **As some people have pointed out, this isn't just RWBY and My Hero Academia, it's a Triple Crossover. Yep. I'm really looking forward to doing this;** **I have so much planned for this story, and I hope you can bear with me as we go on this adventure.**

 **Without further ado...here we go!**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 2- Inevitable

"Well…isn't that comforting?" Were the first words that exited Headmaster Ozpin's mouth as he watched the massive Atlesian ships park at the entrance to Beacon Academy. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes _just_ a little at the warships.

"Ironwood certainly likes to bring a lot of company, does he?" Aside Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch straightened her glasses as she watched the robotic, monochromatic soldiers guard the entrances to the fleet. The silver-haired man was about to say a remark at how _busy_ the leader of Atlas was, until he heard his desk ring.

Ozpin dismissed the notification and said "Come in." On cue, a man in a white military suit and slicked back, graying hair stepped forth from the elevator. His eyes had bags under them, probably from the stress of running two entirely different departments at once. Ozpin welcomed the man with a handshake. "Hello General."

"Ozpin." General Ironwood said back to him, breaking his usual stern exterior and giving a smirk of a smile. "It's been a while. And Glynda," He turned to the witch-themed teacher, who didn't seem to look him in the eyes as he tried in vain to greet her. "It's been a while since we've last met, as well."

"Yeah." Goodwitch passively dismissed him as she made her way to the elevator. "I'll be outside. You two catch up."

With a close of the elevator doors, Ozpin and Ironwood were left alone. "Well she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood deadpanned, to which Ozpin chose to ignore as he began towards his desk, offering the general a cup of coffee.

"So, what brings you all the way from Atlas? Headmasters don't normally travel with their students for the Vytal Festival, you know."

"Well, Vale is lovely this time of year...and besides, since you're hosting the Festival this year, I thought this would be a good time to catch up." He replied as Ozpin took a seat on his desk. The General took out a flask and poured in alcohol, taking a big swig of the drink. The job of his was rather stressful, yes, and drinks like these always managed to calm him down, even if by a little.

As Ironwood was talking, Ozpin never took his eyes off of him, which of course was the courteous thing to do, but the Headmaster of Beacon was more...studying his hold friend, rather than truly listening.

In fact, that one question never ceased to exit his mind. _Why did Ironwood bring the military with him to what's supposed to be a peaceful celebration?_

 _I'll have to interrogate him on that. Passively, of course._

"Well, I certainly can appreciate small talk and catching up between friends…" The silver-haired man trailed as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. "However...that small fleet you brought with you. It's gotten me rather... _concerned_."

"To be fair, Ozpin…" Ironwood realized instantly what Ozpin was trying to do. He had known the man long enough to catch on to his subtle tricks and chose his next words carefully. " _Concern_ is what had brought them here. You and I both know why I decided to come with backup."

The Headmaster took a big swig of his black coffee before setting it down and giving a long _sigh_. He had an inkling feeling that the reason Ironwood had brought the soldiers was because of Qrow's text, but still… "I know, what Qrow said was a little worrying, however...the coming weeks should be a time for peace, not war. I stand by the fact that bringing hundreds of soldiers to a _peace commemoration_ is counterintuitive, James."

"That's not all of why I brought them." James voice had lowered an octave as he set the cup on Ozpin's desk. The Headmaster of Beacon slightly raised his eyebrow as he let Ironwood finish his thoughts. "You don't think I watch the news? There were reports of a battle happening at a Dust supply port in _your kingdom._ The _White Fang_ had tried stealing Dust, and _your students_ tried to put a stop to it. Most of them were put in the hospital after encountering something that...something that I've never seen before."

"..." Ozpin narrowed his eyes, not at his old, friend, but past him. At this point, Ironwood's words were causing him to recall the events labeled the "Vale Incident".

White Fang members had usurped a Schnee Dust Company shipment port in the Kingdom of Vale. The _official_ report was that Vale Police, as well as several students of Beacon had put a stop to their attack, however that wasn't the entire truth.

In reality, the White Fang had retreated far before the police had arrived, and the students were the first ones to engage them. Then, they had sensed a strange energy release a black abomination with a beak for a mouth and eyes in its brain- and it had torn apart several huntsmen and huntresses in training, until a white light had overtaken the entire port area, which seemed to make one _Izuku Rose's_ Semblance powerful enough to put it away.

The monster's codename was _Nondescript Organism with Mutated and Unknown powers,_ or, NOMU. It had disappeared under the sea, and was declared MIA.

Still though, the whole night had racked all of the Kingdom Leaders' minds. _What if whoever made that thing had mass produced them?_ The thought was concerning. Judging by how it had dismantled some of Beacon's best students with ease, the NOMU would probably rip through his Atlesian soldiers and even his Prototype, the Paladin, like tissue paper. It was a miracle it was even stopped.

But stopped it was, and Ozpin was relieved that that thing was destroyed. Just the thought of having something that powerful on the side of evil sent a shiver down his spine...fortunately, Izuku Rose's Semblance had overpowered it, and he was taking notes on how the boy was improving the more he used his ability. The man put his elbows on the table as he addressed Ironwood with confidence. "Yes, what had happened on that day was certainly an anomaly...which is why I'm training my students to be prepared for any coming threat."

"They certainly seem prepared then." James shot back quickly. "Broken ribs, head trauma, severe blood loss in several of yours and Mistral's students...I'm not denying your abilities, Ozpin." The general turned heel towards the door, but turned his head back for one parting inquiry. "...but do you really think that your children can win a war?" He marched towards the elevator, which had opened for him. His casual stature had straightened to a formal posture as the elevator began to close.

Ozpin simply replied, "I hope that they'll never have to."

 _But it's inevitable._

* * *

"Explain yourself."

Those words shot into Izuku's ears like bullets. Here he was, in the middle of the common-grounds in Beacon Academy. Class was out, and most students were in their dorms or the library studying. And to be frank- that was his plan for the afternoon too. However, once he was met with the face of... _him_ , his schedule drastically changed.

Four people: Shoto Todoroki Schnee, youngest son of Jacques Schnee, who is head of the Schnee Dust Company; member of Team _Independent,_ or, as Ruby now dubs it, Team _Inept._

Izuku Xiao Rose, brother of Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose, and leader of Team INPT.

Tokoyami Fumikage, a raven faunus and member of Team BLST of Haven Academy.

And...Katsuki Bakugo, leader of Team BLST.

The four of them were standing under a tree. Bakugo leaned against the bark, his hard expression not shifting from Izuku's eyes. Tokoyami stood there underneath his cloak with his eyes closed, while Todoroki stared at the ground in silence.

"I-I don't quite know what you mean…" Deku muttered, still trying to decipher just...who exactly he was seeing.

In reality, he _had_ seen this blonde kid before: in one of his visions. It had helped him see a new perspective in fighting the Nomu a few weeks back: distract, then attack from another angle, rather than just running in full stop and recklessly. But the fact that he _was_ in a vision was a huge red flag. _It's just like when Todoroki…_

 _"I'm going to come find you...just watch me."_

 _It's just like when I saw him in that vision before I went to Beacon._

"Cut the crap, idiot." Bakugo spat, causing Izuku to wince. When he first laid eyes upon him, he knew that Katsuki might be a little bit vulgar...but nothing like this. His clothes were disheveled, and his hair was messy and spiky. It was like he didn't give a damn about anything. "I know you know who I am. We haven't even exchanged names yet, and yet you stare at me like you know me from somewhere. So, spit it out. What's my name?"

"U-Uh…" Deku's eyes darted over to Todoroki for help. When the Schnee shrugged, the green-haired huntsman inwardly sighed and looked back. "...K-Ka…"

 _"Where you goin', Kacchan?"_

 _H-Huh?...Another vision? Now? Why?..._

 _"Get the heck away from me, Deku...ya powerless loser!"_

 _"...O-okay...we're still going to hang out after school, right?"_

 _"Pfft, yeah, riiight."_

Izuku's expression, hardened, _just_ a little. "K-Kacchan…"

That's when it happened. A second after he said that sentence, Izuku found himself slammed against the tree Katsuki was leaning against, his face being pushed into the sharp bark by Bakugo's hand. "What the hell did you say?..."

"I-I…" Izuku didn't know what to say, at this point. The word just came to him. _Kacchan._ Just like how the word _Smash_ always comes to him when he wants to use his Semblance. He was confused, dazed, and yet his mind was racing at a million miles an hour, wanting to decipher just what was happening. "K-Ka…"

"Hey, stop this." The white-redhead had seen enough, and placed his hand on Bakugo's shoulder. "You wanted to talk, right? _Talking_ doesn't involve slamming your interrogatee against a tree...let go."

Bakugo sneered back, his head turned just enough so Todoroki could see one of his eyes. It was _filled_ with rage, and it was staring right back at two, heterochromatic, icy cold ones. "And what if I don't, you half-half bastard?"

Suddenly, the leader of BLST felt a cold sensation on his shoulder, right where Todoroki was touching him. The Schnee's expression did not change, but his words inflected deeper- like he was scolding an out-of-line student. "Or I'll make you."

With a huff, Katsuki let go, causing Deku to gasp for air. Even though the boy wasn't choking, he was still holding his breath in anticipation. In those moments, anything could have happened to him…

"Damn...why'd you have to call me that?"

Izuku's head shot back up, to meet Bakugo's pissed off face. His fists were clenched and his eyes were as narrow as daggers. " _Kacchan..._ That's exactly the name you called me in these frickin' weird dreams I've been having."

Deku's eyes shot open at those words, and he immediately looked over to Todoroki. Surprisingly, the normally aloof Schnee's pupils had also widened a degree. "D-Dreams?..." Deku asked as if he was ignorant about the topic. In reality, he knew _all_ about it.

And apparently, Katsuki Bakugo was a part of this strange phenomenon, too.

"Yeah, dreams." Bakugo confirmed, straightening up as well as he could but still with a slight slouch. "Almost every night I see a pathetic kid with a weird Semblance and a guy with ice cream colors for hair," He glanced over at Todoroki, who, judging by his look, did not like the description Bakugo gave about his appearance. "As well as a bird faunus."

"He's talking about me." Tokoyami finally spoke after minutes of silence, and all eyes were on him. "Don't get me wrong...I've had these visions of you three as well. All I can really add is: this phenomenon cannot bode well for our future."

Deku gulped as Tokoyami's rather bleak choice of words. _Is he always like that?_ He shook his head and replied, "So...all four of us have had these weird dreams…" He backed up against the tree again and put his unbroken hand on his chin. "What...what could it all mean?..."

"Yeah, it's something me and Rose have been discussing for a while, at this point." Shoto added, putting a hand on his chin as well. "We knew each other even before we met...judging by the brief anecdotes you two gave, I'm assuming that it was also the case for you." Tokoyami nodded in confirmation, and Bakugo just _tch'd_ in response. Todoroki took that as a yes. "And...apparently you and Rose have also had visions of _each other_ , despite, physically, being thousands of kilometers away from one another."

"I have an idea." Bakugo said, his hands behind his head as if he didn't give a damn about what was happening at the moment. In reality, his head was reeling too. _Who_ were these people? They seem so familiar, and yet...not.

That counterintuitive situation pissed him off. "Maybe we all knew each other in a past life, or something."

"W-Wha?" Izuku raised an eyebrow at him like it was the craziest idea in the world. "What the heck are you talking about? No offense, but...that's kind of bogus, if you ask me."

"Uh huh." Katsuki sarcastically replied, smirking. "And on what grounds do you call it bogus?"

"Well, I mean-"

"-First of all," Bakugo interrupted before Deku could start. "This whole world is already strange as hell. I mean, they teach in class that the Grimm are creatures of Darkness that need to be stopped, but nothing in Science says crap about how they are formed, or what they're made of. They're a complete anomaly that somehow took over 90% of the world."

"U-Um…"

"So what's to say something as out-there as _reincarnation_ is a weird thing?" Bakugo shrugged. "Just my two cents. It's already goddamn weird that the four of us knew each other before we met."

"I see your point." Todoroki cut-in, and Deku gave him a look of 'Oh God, you're crazy, too!', but Shoto put a hand up to silence him. "But...we have no evidence for that, yet."

"Okay, guys." Deku put his foot down, and made his expression serious. In response, the two of them fell silent. "I have...no idea what's going on. All I know is: we're connected in some way, through some weird memory things that happen to us every so often. My proposal, like what Todoroki and I agreed upon: we all work together to figure it out. We report to each other when occurrences like this happen, so we can slowly put it all together like puzzle pieces. Deal?"

There were no words, but Todoroki and Tokoyami both nodded in agreement. Katsuki simply _tch'd_ again. "Listen, Deku."

For some reason, every time Bakugo spoke, Deku immediately felt like tensing up. "Even though we're working together to figure out this crap-pile, don't think for a second you're in charge."

"I-I never said I was…"

"Then don't be."

"Guys." Shoto wisely stepped in between the two of them. Any longer, and Bakugo might've slammed Izuku against the tree again. "Now's not the time to argue who's in charge. As far as I'm concerned, we're all equals. _Am I clear?_ " He especially eyed Katsuki the most. Within a second, he could freeze both him and the entire Team dorm behind him over without a sweat.

"Yeah, whatever." Bakugo spat, taking a step back. It was clear he wasn't getting anywhere with constant threats...so he instead opted to quiet down for a moment and let them run their mouths.

"Okay." Todoroki turned back to Deku. "What's most important now is our confidentiality. Rose," The huntsman in training straightened like a pencil. People calling him by his last name really scared him, and honestly, he was surprised that he has let Shoto call him that for all this time. "Do you think we could tell Team RWBY?"

"Um…" The youngest of the Rose family thought for a moment of all the possibilities that could happen if they told RWBY...and honestly, he couldn't come up with anything bad.

He had heard from Todoroki that Weiss and Blake had overcome their differences in the hospital, as they were recovering, and that they should, from now on, tell each other when something goes wrong, or when they need help. So if teammates could do that with each other…

What's stopping _siblings_ from doing the same? They were family...although, the word _family_ changes depending on who you asked. Izuku had no qualms about telling Yang and Ruby about it... _Shoto_ , however…

It was probably why Todoroki was asking him in the first place. He was on the fence, and just wanted Deku to go forward with the most logical, rational answer. It was true, Shoto was the most logical of the two of them, and on the team: however, his relationship with his family was the only thing where he applied his emotions.

With a nod from Izuku, it was decided. They turned to Katsuki and Tokoyami and told them what they were going to do.

"You want us to come with you?" Bakugo asked. "Tch. I guess it'll give you more credibility...whatever."

Izuku nodded. "So, are we going?"

"Let's go and get this over with…" Shoto led the pack, surprisingly, and started towards the dorms with Tokoyami and Bakugo lagging behind. Deku caught up to him a few minutes after.

"Todoroki?"

"Yeah?"

"Do...do you think they'll be mad, that we've been hiding this from them?"

"...I can't say anything about your sisters. But Weiss…" He looked down and covered the left side of his face. Despite them making up after the battle with the Nomu, he could still sense some unwanted tension between them. No matter what he said to her, nothing could really put away the natural rivalry they have with each other. "...Like I said, let's get this over with."

* * *

Across the commons and about a floor up was the dorm room of Team RWBY. Weiss, Yang and Ruby were still making it to their room after the crazy battle they had with INPT. Of course, being the teenagers they are Yang and Ruby persist on calling them _Inept_ now.

Blake, however, made it to her room early. After going to the nurse's office to find that nothing was wrong with her- just a bit of irritation from her stab wound at the docks a few weeks back, she decided to take it easy, head back to her room and continue reading _Ninjas of Love._

She had a lot to think about, anyways. The promiscuous pages of her novel served to barely help from her running thoughts.

The White Fang. Roman Torchwick- a human working with them. Stealing Dust, and...whatever that _monster_ was. The Nomu.

She couldn't stop thinking: _What if that Nomu was only one of hundreds- thousands?! Not even the most skilled huntsmen and huntresses in the world could be able to stop that...Atlas's military would be powerless..._ She looked out the window after realizing the sun that was providing light for her novel-reading was covered by something. It wasn't _partially_ covered, like a cloud, but rather it was like an entire object had flown in the way.

It was an Atlesian military ship, flying over the Tower of Beacon. She sighed. _Maybe even those things won't stand a chance._

The Nomu did tear through Todoroki's Blue Ice like it was tissue paper...so what's to say it couldn't do the same against something slightly more durable, like steel? The thought terrified her.

They weren't ready for that. The only ones that weren't majorly injured in that fight was Todoroki and Weiss...everyone else suffered some sort of traumatic injury that took weeks to recover from. Some were even _still_ recovering from it. She felt where her own blade had stabbed into her body. After applying some pressure, she winced after a sharp pain shot up her nerves. It was still a little raw.

The door creaked open, and the three other girls of RWBY almost _kicked_ it the rest of the way as they marched through the entrance. Blake winced a little at their sudden intrusion, but quickly regained composure.

"Man, that fight was _crazy!_ Who knew Deku could hit that hard?" Yang exclaimed, rolling her shoulders. "Almost got sent into the stratosphere, jeez…more importantly: Ruby, you totally won the fight for us!"

"Heh, yeah I did!" The third youngest student of Beacon stood atop a chair cockily. "Thanks to my _powerful_ Semblance, Team RWBY is officially superior to _Inept_ , and shall be for the rest of our days!"

"Yeah!" The sister's subsequent high-five was loud enough for Blake to get up and attempt to leave. They were making _way_ too much noise for her to tolerate; especially when she's thinking this much.

However, before she could touch the doorknob, amidst all the excited banter between Ruby, Yang, and to a lesser extent Weiss, she felt the latter's eyes dig into the back of her bow.

"Stop."

Blake grimaced, and turned around. Weiss's hand was pointing right at her, and Ruby and Yang stopped their chatter and were looking at her as well. "Lately, you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody- almost as bad as my brother, for gosh sakes!"

"Uhm...Weiss, have you _met_ Blake?" Yang sarcastically added, but Weiss put up a finger to shush her.

"And I know. That's your _thing_." She air-quoted to accentuate. "But you've also been doing it in front of _us_. Your teammates. Didn't we make an agreement a few weeks ago that you'd tell us when stuff goes wrong? Or you know, to be more open in general?"

"..." A few seconds of silence made the tension in the room almost palpable. If Ruby had Crescent Rose right about now, she could probably cut it.

"I just…" Blake took a deep breath. "I don't get how all of you can be so calm like this."

Ruby tilted her head in concern. "Lemme guess: Torchwick? The White Fang?" Blake nodded. "Yeah, figured…"

"It's...agh, it's all building up to something huge, and none of us know what it is!" The faunus was shouting at this point, causing her friends to cringe a little. "There's _something_ going on right now. Something that could potentially turn the world on its head...and yet you three are so calm...why?"

"Well, Ozpin told us not to worry." Yang shrugged, trying her best to defuse the situation. "I'm sure that the higher-ups can handle it...between the Vale Police and the huntsmen, I don't see much that could go wrong."

"Well, I'm not!" Blake put her foot down. It was obvious that their words had made it worse. "None of them know the White Fang inside and out like I do...and what's worse, they have that...that _thing_ on their side!" Judging by Blake's accentuation of the word _Thing_ , she made it clear she was talking about the Nomu: the giant beaked monster that cut through all of them. "It took an actual _miracle_ to take it down...whatever came out of Ruby's eyes and went into her brother, but we can't rely on freak occurrences like that! What if the White Fang are making an _army_ of those things?! _None_ of us would be able to stand a chanc-!"

"Blake, I get it." Ruby put a hand on her shoulder, and her _leader_ tone was prominent. "You're stressed. And I know that that night at the docks put us all under some bad weather." The hooded teen took a step back, and cleared her throat. "So I suggest we-"

"No." Weiss cut her off before she even started, much to Ruby's dismay. "I know what you're going to say, Ruby. You want _us four_ to go out and figure out what's going on in Vale. To go undercover, find some information, maybe infiltrate the White Fang. And, looking at Yang's excited expression," she glared at the busty blonde, "You want us, as a team, to go do something crazy."

"Well I-"

"-LET me be the voice of reason here. We. Are. High School Students. We're _going_ to be huntresses, yes, but we are also in training. Let's let the officials handle this, _before_ we do something stupid."

"Well…" Ruby finally spoke after the several seconds of awkward silence. "I wasn't just going to make this a Team RWBY thing. How about we invite INPT?"

"We _what?"_ Blake's expression hardened, and she took a step forward in denial. How could Ruby- after seeing not only her team, but several others, including members of INPT, get annihilated by the Nomu- still be on board with putting others in harm's way?! "You're suggesting we ask for help? Ruby, do you remember the last time this happened? Most of us got _slaughtered."_

"Yes! I know that!" Ruby clapped her hands together twice to recompose herself. Yes, she was aware of what happened at the docks: she was there. She saw her teammates, and her friends and siblings, almost get killed. "But...what would have happened at the docks if half of us weren't there? Yes, half of us would be okay, but...let's face it, considering what we were up against, we can't say the same about the other half."

"And that's exactly why we can't let anyone else help us!" Blake exclaimed. "What if another Nomu shows up?! What if we all die from it?!"

"Then we'll deal with it together."

Blake's eyes widened as Ruby's fell to a scowl- a look that for some reason, suited her. "None of us individually can stand a chance against a Nomu. But...if we're all together, we can actually stand a chance."

"Yeah…" Yang added, her purple irises looking down into the ground in thought. "Yeah...Ruby's right. Before, we all came in a few at a time. But if we're all _together_ at once, and have an idea of how the Nomu works, we'll be able to win."

Blake, at this point, backed down. With Weiss being on the fence and Ruby and Yang adamant about bringing in some assistance, it was clear the majority overruled her. With a knowing nod to each other, Yang said she was going to go out and get Team INPT together before she walked out the door.

The faunus sighed as she lay on her bed. How did things end up like this? She came to Beacon to hone her skills, become stronger; so she can return and be a real force against the corrupt White Fang. She was naive in thinking the enemy wouldn't follow them.

And alas, they did. And it almost cost her, Sun, heck, _most_ of her friends; lives. Ruby and Weiss were wise in staying quiet as they basked in the thoughts of their conversation. Here they were, a group of kids about to take on the most radical group in Remnant. Any person looking in on this situation would immediately ask: "What the hell's gotten into them?"

A few minutes later, the blonde opened the door, with no one coming in behind her. "Everyone in INPT's out right now. It's probably extracurricular classes. Either way, we can't tell them now." Yang's face was that of disappointment. It looks like they would have to face this problem by themselves.

"Well, it's official." Blake sat back up, her face calmer than before and giving off that off-putting, icy stare from her golden eyes. "We're doing this on our own."

"Doing...what on your own?"

The new voice made three out of the four members of RWBY jump out of their socks in surprise. Blake just put her nose between her finger and thumb like: _Oh no, not more people…_

Turning, the girls could see large green eyes and messy, curly hair. Deku opened the door all the way, and three people were behind him. Shoto, and…

 _Wait, aren't those the two guys that wanted to speak to Deku back at the cafeteria fight?_ Ruby thought as she eyed both the bird faunus and blonde teen down. The former was short, but his sense of style was much like Blake. The latter would be roughly as tall as Shoto, if it weren't for his slouching. _I wonder why these four are together..._

"Sorry for the intrusion. RWBY." The way Deku said it, it seemed like he was talking to his sister, as well as the whole team in general. "But…"

"But we need to tell you all something." Shoto finished. He gestured back to the two behind him, and they greeted RWBY by putting their hands up. "It's imperative that you know. And in exchange…" The Schnee's voice lowered an octave. "You tell us what you four were planning."

* * *

It was like an impossibly huge tsunami of information had hit them all at once.

Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss all stood there in stunned silence as Izuku and Shoto told their story.

They were connected. They had occasional memories pop into their minds, like visions. They would appear at convenient times to help them, and sometimes, it was of each other. Even at the battle at the Docks, Izuku explained that he had a vision of Katsuki, the kid with the blonde hair.

All four were connected. Tokoyami and Bakugo could confirm. All four have had weird occurrences where they could...see a world that didn't exist. Or, if it did, they weren't aware of it yet.

Ruby fell to her knees. Yang stood there, still stunned in silence, while Weiss backed up until she touched the wall. Blake's eyes just lowered...all she could do was feel bad for her friends, but her mind was still telling her that even with all that Izuku and Todoroki had said, it still wasn't as crucial as what she was concerned with.

"D-Deku…" Ruby stammered, trying to find the strength to stand. "D-Don't tell me...that's all true?"

"It is." He answered quickly, trying his best not to cringe at his big sister being torn like that. This was as hard for him as it was for them- giving news like that was worse than receiving it, like voluntarily shooting someone through the heart. "All of it. From my connections with Kacchan and Todoroki, to these dreams, to that girl I saw with a little frog accessory on her phone…" He had no idea why that latter thought in particular popped up, but he shook his head as he continued. "I...even may know a man behind all of this-"

"You _what?!_ " The cat faunus in the room suddenly shot up as she glared daggers into Deku. "Y-You know?! Those weird dreams you had _told_ you?! Who is he?! Where is he?!" She was taking _huge_ steps towards him, and probably would have backed him into a wall if it weren't for Weiss stopping her. "Why is he going through with all this meaningless slaughte-?!"

"Blake, stop, for the love of all that is good, stop!" The elder Schnee held her teammate's arm back. Clearly, emotions were running high- she could barely hold back her own. All of her past anger towards her brother- it was starting to fester again. Not due to the same reasons, though; she wasn't pissed that his presence tore the family apart, or anything. No...she was angry that he had withheld such crucial information from _her_.

"I can't stop!" Blake yelled out, almost breaking free of Weiss's grip until Yang grabbed her back too. "All I've known was the White Fang's cruelty, their mistreatment of others, but it was all because humans had subjugated them! Both sides are in the wrong, which means some third party must be pulling the strings!" She grit her teeth. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "And... _you_ show up suddenly, out of the blue, claiming to know who it is?"

"...I...don't know if it's him, exactly. But...all I have is a name, general appearance, and-"

"Tell us." Blake spat, unbecoming of her usual quiet nature. " _Now._ "

"Tomura Shigaraki!" Izuku suddenly spat out, not wanting anything else to escalate. He knew that Tokoyami or Bakugo wouldn't help and Shoto would only step in if there were actual punches thrown. He was pretty much alone on this one, so he had to play his cards right. "His name...it's Tomura Shigaraki. He has pale blue hair, and a scarred face. He...also has a Semblance. It...it decays." He looked up to RWBY, previously gazing at the patterns in the carpet. "Remember when we came across that crime scene where everything was decayed and broken apart, and a dead body was found? That was _him_."

Yet another wave of silence fell over RWBY. He was _that_ close to them? "I-I'm sorry." Deku bowed, not knowing what else to do but prostrate.

Yang walked up to him, her bangs falling over her lilac eyes. "You don't...you don't need to be sorry, so get up and look me in the eyes." Slowly, Izuku looked up.

They were red. And yet...filled with tears. "What you need to do is give us an explanation. Why did you hide this from us? We don't even know these people, and yet you claim to know them. It's like you're a completely different person…"

"Y-Yang…" He stood up straight, not wanting to upset her more, but what more could he do? Anything he could say would end up making her feel worse, so what was the point in trying?

"Deku…" That was the trigger. Izuku's eyes widened as his vision directed him towards his kneeling red sister. "Why…? Are...are you...really our family?"

At that, Izuku turned, and fled. He bolted out the door, and within seconds he was out of everyone's reach.

Deku running off almost caused the room to turn into the equivalent of a hurricane-ridden city. That news had already broken everyone- and him sprinting off like Blake had done on that fateful night caused some unwanted memories throughout Team RWBY.

Ruby herself, however, was torn apart the most about it. She couldn't hold it back anymore, and broke down into the largest crying fit she'd had in years, with only Yang's gentle pats to comfort her. The blonde's emotions were running wild too- but of rage, not of sadness.

Blake had grown quiet again, waiting for the tension to defuse while Weiss and Shoto spoke to the side. Bakugo and Tokoyami stood there: the former not caring much and the latter only silently observing. In the end, they had no power in INPT or RWBY's decision: they were just along for the ride, and this was like seeing the shotgun seat and the driver's seat arguing while you awkwardly sit in the back.

"Shoto…" Weiss sighed. "You...you were going to tell me sooner or late, right?" Shoto only nodded. "Okay…" She got her composure together, and looked to Ruby and Yang.

"Hey, you two. Get your act together."

"Get our _act_ together?..." Yang's head slowly turned up to her teammate's, her crimson eyes staring into the Schnee's soul. "Get our act together?! Izuku's the one who ran off!" Yang exclaimed. "Plus, how the hell do you expect me to feel?! He _hid this fact from us,_ for years! It's like he didn't even trust us! It's like he didn't even trust me…"

Weiss stood back. Clearly, her boss attitude wouldn't work. This was an issue strictly between family. She had no place in it.

"He stood there...knowing there was something out there. Seeing things that drew a big picture. He knew people we didn't. He knew the freakin' big bad behind all this." Yang spat. "If he knew for so long, how come he didn't tell us then? It would have saved us _so_ much time!"

"He had his reasons."

" _What?"_ Yang scowled up to the voice who said it: the blonde kid in the corner. "What the hell did you say?"

"He had his reasons, just like how I had my reasons for doing it to my family." Bakugo shrugged. "Just an observation. If you still wanna punch him, I won't stop you. It isn't my damn business."

"He...actually has a point." Yang looked down to see Ruby slowly get to her feet. "Listen...Deku...probably had his reasons for hiding it. Yes, _all_ of it was stuff we deserved to know, because it affects _us,_ but…" Her teeth ground together. It was getting harder to speak as she went on. "I...I'm sure he hid it for good intentions. It's not like...it's not like he's guilty of anything, Yang!"

"Only the guilty run, Ruby." Is all she said. Ruby gasped lightly at her sister's cold tone. Yang took steps to leave the room, but Katsuki got in the way. "Move, or I'll make you."

"I suggest you don't wanna see how that ends up, girly." Bakugo spat, holding up his hand. A spark of a...tiny explosion? Appeared in his palm. Ruby's eyes widened at this. _So...that's his Semblance…_

"He's right, Yang." Blake finally cut into the conversation, splitting the tension like a katana through a tense rope. "You're not leaving. We made a deal with them that once they tell us their story, we tell them what _we're_ planning."

"..." Yang's eyes still didn't divert from Bakugo's. It was like at any second, they'd collide.

Just then, Tokoyami stepped between them, his presence alone enough to offset Yang enough that she lost concentration and backed up. She narrowed her eyes as she felt a... _peculiar_ presence within him...She'd have to ponder it later, though, as Blake had continued speaking.

RWBY told Bakugo, Tokoyami and Todoroki their plan: to gather information about the White Fang and their constituents. As they spoke, they decided three places would be best to find intel: Junior's Nightclub, where Yang could get info about the darker side of Vale; the school library, where Weiss and Shoto could use their status as Schnee's to read into the Schnee Dust Company's secret files, as well as reports of stolen Dust by the White Fang; and finally, a White Fang meeting for new recruits was happening in Vale tomorrow evening, so if a faunus could infiltrate, then they could gather some primary-source information.

Of course, the only people that could go to the meeting were Blake and Tokoyami, so they agreed to pair up. Weiss and Todoroki obviously paired up, and…

"Yang, can I _please_ go with you?" Ruby asked, her eyes desperate, but her sister wouldn't budge.

"No, Ruby. I'm going to the dark side of town. Between mine and Blake's, these missions are the most dangerous, and it's still a week until Crescent Rose is fully repaired. You need to go with Weiss and Todoroki, all they're doing is gathering information." Yang's argument was sound enough for the red-haired huntress to back down.

"I'll go with you, then." Yang raised an eyebrow at Katsuki offering to pair up with her, especially after their previous exchanges, which were _anything_ but pleasant. Before she could retaliate, he answered, "What? You don't have a partner. It's the logical answer. Besides-" He punched his fist into his palm, and a small smoke plume came from it. "-I'm not a faunus, and I hate computers. I'd rather beat the crap outta some worthless fodder."

"..." Yang still wasn't sure, but considering she had not much else of a choice, she relented.

Now that all the groups were picked out, Ruby had one final inquiry.

"What about Deku?" It was the million-dollar question. He had ran out without telling anyone, and no one knew where he was. "He's coming with us, right?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Ruby, his arm's broken." Weiss answered. "He can't fight, like what Yang's about to do, and he isn't a faunus. The only option is ours, and four people would make us look suspicious. He'll have to stay behind."

"...Okay...then," She pulled up a chair, and stood atop it so she had a solid few heads above everyone else in the room. "Who's ready to go undercover?"

* * *

He ran. Ran...ran, ran, and couldn't stop running just as his tears couldn't stop falling..

He sprinted down the halls, not caring who or what he ran into as long as he made it outside. Once he did, he kept running.

Students and teachers alike gave him quizzical looks as he kept running, running without stopping for anyone or anything. He was thankful that the only person that could feasibly catch him didn't. He needed to run away. He couldn't look them in the eyes.

He saw it. That look of betrayal in both Yang and Ruby's faces. How could he be so stupid? Just minutes before, he ensured Todoroki that everything would go smoothly with Yang and Ruby, that they would accept it and move on, and they'd be figuring out this puzzle together.

But the exact opposite happened. It was like they were seeing him as a cheap reflection of Deku rather than...himself. A brother. A teammate. A Best Friend. He wasn't anything like that anymore, and by dropping that bombshell it was like it tore away years of building he had made with them, like a tornado ripping apart a carefully made, beautiful home.

Why did he keep it a secret? Shouldn't he have just consulted them, first thing? Why did he have to go to Todoroki first? Sure, he _should_ have gone to him soon after, but...he neglected telling his family. The two girls that have brought him this far. It was like he stabbed them in the back.

After minutes on end of pure running, he finally made it to where his legs brought him: a beach in Vale. It was empty, due to it being the colder season, so he was all by himself. _Perfect._

And he screamed. He screamed, as loud as he could. All the frustration that was building up exponentially in his aggressive footsteps exploded all at once. His shouts echoed across the water, causing birds to take off in fear. There was no one around for a couple city blocks, so no one looked at him and asked any questions.

He was completely alone.

He punched the ground, with Full Cowl at 10%. It _shattered_ through the sand, sending a huge plume of the stuff bursting everywhere, covering his body. He cursed, spat out any sand that got into his mouth, then collapsed to a knee, breathing _hard._

He couldn't do this anymore. Izuku was at his limit...he wanted to give up.

He felt that, in that moment, he had turned his back on everyone. He ran, like a coward. He kept secrets, like a coward. He couldn't answer Ruby's question...like a coward.

 _'Pft. You think you're the coward?'_

"H-Huh?" He looked up, towards the expansive sea. The Sun was setting. Before him, the figure of...someone appeared. He recognized it was a girl- she was wearing a blazer and a skirt, and her shoulder-length chestnut hair blew in the wind. Being behind her, Deku could _swear_ it smelled like lemon.

 _'I was the one who decided it would be best to throw away my life for the sake of saving others...a friend of mine told me that was a bad idea. I disagreed, I said that it was the best option. Y'know what he said?'_

She didn't wait for Izuku's answer. _'He said: "You are made for more than just being a martyr." He said that he'd be there, to support me as we work together. So here I am, supporting you.'_

The girl turned around, and still, Izuku couldn't recognize her facial features due to the Sun's glare. However, a flower clip was visible on the right side of her hair. _'You may think that it's too much. That's there's so much weighing down on you, and maybe with_ him _being gone, it may have triggered it all at once.'_

She bent down, grabbed Deku's hands, and smiled. _'But I'm still here. I'll support you until you reach the top, every step of the way. We'll fight the villains together. We'll figure this out. There are still people who care about you. You aren't defective, you aren't weak...there's nothing wrong with you.'_

 _'So don't give up. For me, okay?'_

"!" Izuku's eyes shot open. He saw the west side of Vale's Beach, his face halfway in the sand as the gentle waves kissed his hair. Looking around, it appeared the sun had set and night had fallen. For some reason, he had fallen asleep.

And he had _that_ dream. Rubbing his forehead as he wiped the damp sand from his body, he just had to ask himself…

"Who...was that?"

* * *

 **And with that, the Investigation Arc has begun.**

 **Now, I'm going to admit-it's purely a coincidence that the four MHA characters fit the archetypes of RWBY. I mean, Ruby matches Deku, Weiss matches Shoto, Blake matches Tokoyami, and Yang matches Bakugo. I know, weird. I swear, I didn't do it on purpose lol.**

 **Also: don't worry. Just because Deku won't be going with them, doesn't mean I won't be focusing on him or his Team. I have some plans for him, as well as addressing Nora and Ren's reunification. Even though they went to different schools, they still have the same past as they did at the start. I will address why that happened soon, as well as some focus on Pyrrha.**

 **So...with all that in mind, who do you think is the girl that spoke to Izuku at the very end? Well...I did say at the top that it's a Triple Crossover, and there's really only one person with that descriptive appearance. Send a review about it! In fact please just send a review in general lol I need advice on how I write.**

 **And if you guys know who it is, then: Yep. This story is a Triple-Cross between RWBY, My Hero Academia, and A Certain Magical Index, or at least its spinoff: A Certain Scientific Railgun.**

 **If that turns you off, then it's perfectly fine...this story won't be for you.**

 **But if that excites you, then yay! It excites me too; there's so much stuff I want to do, and I hope you will enjoy it.**

 **And with that, I announce...**

 **A New Story!**

 **It will mainly be a crossover between A Certain Scientific Railgun and My Hero Academia, entitled "A Certain Scientific Hero Academy", and will feature Deku and Misaka as the main characters. I'm currently planning it out, and want to get it out sometime this year. Stay tuned for that; it's in the works right now!**

 **With that...Chapter 3 should be out sometime in Early March. See you until then~**


	16. Discovery

_**March,**_ **I said! I would get it out by _then_ , I said! Well look what happened! IT'S MAY!**

 **I deeply apologize about that- but hey, here it is. And oh boy, it is a long one. Pretty sure its about the length of the first half of the eighth chapter- which is quite an impressive feat.**

 **Anyways, enough with the rambling. Yeah, here I am, after about two months of silence. A shite-ton has happened since I was gone too: Endgame came out (don't worry, there's no spoilers in this chapter, nor will there probably be in this author notes ever), a bunch of awesome shows happened...is anyone watching Demon Slayer? That show is pure greatness. Who knew they could make a demon so cute?**

 **But besides that, this story is now going in a proper direction. I kept saying before that it was, but to tell you the truth I was always uncertain of where it was going to go. But after a two-month reform and rewrite, this story will have a clear beginning (in which it already did), middle, and end. It's in three phases...kinda like the MCU. I swear, I did NOT do that on purpose.**

 **This chapter pretty much sets up what this whole overarching saga is going to be like. I said it was a three-way crossover- and dammit I'm going to pull all the stops this Volume. You'll see.**

 **And without further ado, after a while of waiting, here it is. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Oh P.S. the time I'm writing this is May 2nd...anyone wanna take a stab at whose birthday it is today?**

* * *

Chapter 3- Discovery

Three teams, three locations, and one chance to gather information. That was the mission that RWBY, and the male newcomers had in mind.

After class, Ruby pulled out a large piece of paper and sketched the overall local area of Vale, marking important roads and landmarks. Three places were circled, and names of the people who would infiltrate those areas were labeled beside them.

One team would infiltrate the White Fang recruitment, and see what their next move was. This was comprised of just the two Faunus: Blake and Tokoyami, since they were the only ones who would realistically pass.

Another would break into a nightclub run by a man that Yang only called "Junior". Her and Bakugo would go, as her motorcycle only held two people.

And finally: Weiss, Ruby and Todoroki would go to the CCT Tower to gather information. They thought that the library would be easier, but with the Schnee's status and the fact that the Tower would most likely contain a lot of confidential information than found on a typical school computer, they opted for the higher-risk option.

"Are we all clear? Any questions?" Ruby looked them over for one final call, but they all had nothing to say. Their faces were serious- which perfectly matched their alternative huntsmen clothes. For a moment, they all looked like professionals. Ruby gave a nod. "Alright."

With that information in mind, and a clear goal, the Seven exchanged Scroll numbers, and set out at sunset.

* * *

They headed out the room staggered, so no one would really suspect why a decently large group with their weapons in full display and in shiny new uniforms were all walking down the hall looking like they were out for blood. Blake and Tokoyami were the first to leave- they didn't have any method of quick travel, and their location was on the other side of Vale, so they had to move fast in order to sync up with everyone else.

They ran over the rooftops in silence. Both were incredibly quiet individuals...if interaction was ever present, it was for the mission, and nothing else.

Within an hour, they had made it to their location: a large warehouse, with many faunus entering in through many doorways.

"Hey," Tokoyami spoke up for the first time since they split from the other two teams. "You need this."

Blake turned, and saw that the raven faunus was offering his clock. He himself was wearing a black uniform underneath, with a utility belt that most likely stored various Dusts. Before she could question it, he said, "You were heavily involved in the Vale Incident not too long ago. I would not be surprised if some of them remembered your face. Stay hidden."

The cat faunus hesitated, but relented and took the cloak, covering her entire body down to the knees with it. Now, with the hood over her head covering her feline ears, she could almost hide her identity. "C'mon," she held her Gambol Shroud under the cloak as they began walking. "Let's get this over with."

Once they got to the entrance, the soldiers thankfully didn't recognize her, and obviously did not say a word about Fumikage. One of the unarmed men gave them a Grimm mask each- Blake mentioned later that it was because of how the humans had villainized them during the Faunus Rights Revolution. "They treated us like monsters, so we took the identity of them."

They made it into the main room. It was massive and dimly lit: a stage at the back with a massive White Fang logo on a huge curtain in the background, and several railings and crates with White Fang troops watching over the crowd with fully automated Dust rifles. The second Blake walked in, she could feel the pressure of the room begin to push down on her skull.

 _Not now, Blake._ She bit her lip a bit. _Now's not the time to think about what you did. Focus on what's going on now._

The crowd was broken into two groups: those who were already affiliated with the White Fang, as she could tell by the fact that they all had the same black and white uniforms that made them look like terrorists, and a slightly smaller group of newcomers that wore regular civilian clothing, but had the mask on. They went into the latter group, and waited for the presentation to start.

The doors behind them crashed shut as the armed White Fang stood in front of it. They were trapped, and about to see who-knows-what.

"What do you think their plan is?" Tokoyami asked silently as the crowd began to murmur in curiosity. It seemed that the recruits were just as confused as they were.

"Probably to show off something good to attract newcomers," the feline faunus replied. "We just have to blend in. All of our options to escape are out the window, so no matter what, we can't get caught."

Just as they finished a man with bulging muscles and a large mask over his face walked onto the stage. From just his appearance alone, Tokoyami quickly concluded he was some sort of leader. "Thank you all for coming," The man announced. His voice was deep, and it cut the chatting from the recruits in an instant. "And for those of you who are new...I assure you, we will make sure you feel accepted in this new environment. Now, to break the ice…"

He gestured to another man walking up the opposite side. His body was covered in silhouettes, but Blake's eyes narrowed as she began piecing together his appearance…

That cane. The curly locks under the fedora, that cigar...and finally, that all-too flashy white suit.

 _Torchwick..._ she thought. She bit her lip further, and winced as she tasted something metallic in her mouth.

Instantly, the newcomers began to shout in protest, mainly at the fact that a human was at a, as far as they knew, "Faunus-only" meeting. However, he immediately stifled the arguments.

"Yes, yes…" He fingered the brim of his hat as he spoke, walking back and forth, making sure he looked everyone in the eyes. Blake looked down once he scanned over her area- she could _not_ risk him seeing her, under any circumstances. "I know. I'm a human, and you're all a part of an... _anti-human_ organization. However!" He settled in the middle, his cane in front of him. The way he asserted himself in that second looked oddly similar to Ozpin- a darker, sinister Ozpin that wanted chaos rather than order.

"We both have a common enemy. The ones who pull the strings in his town. The government, the schools."

Slowly, his speech began pulling the recruits to his side, as they stopped their protests and began to silently listen. "They're the ones making your lives hell, and we see them as pests needed to be dealt with. And fortunately, your White Fang allies have hired, well…" He spread his arms out, as if waiting for praise. "The best exterminator around."

He snapped his fingers. The curtain fell...and Blake's eyes widened in terror.

"Oh...oh _God_."

Her worst feeling came true.

* * *

"I've already told you a thousand times, blondie, I _don't_ know!"

"Mmkay, first of all-" A boot planted onto a bearded man's foot as he winced in pain. About a head shorter than him was a fiery, busty blonde with irises that were currently alternating between lilac and crimson red. "- _Never_ call me that again. Secondly, I want that drink you owe me. Thirdly, I've only told you _three_ times, so I'm going to keep asking you this question until you relent: _What_ is the White Fang's plan? What the hell was that thing on the Vale docks?!"

"And I…" He took a breath to calm himself down as he walked behind the bar to both get away from the huntress and to fix her that strawberry sunrise. "...will keep saying the same answer until _you_ give up. I don't know. After you attacked my club a while back, I've stopped getting information from them, and he's stopped talking to me." He tightened the grip around the glass.

"He gave me the money, I gave him my men...and they never came back. After that, the trail to reach him came up dry. It's like...they're hiding something. Extremely secret."

"Well, I guess I know that much…" Yang sat next to the bar as Junior finished making the drink and slid it over to her. She asked for it to be spiked- she had a feeling she'd need a bit of alcohol to numb the feeling of disappointment she was experiencing. She was certain that at least this guy would be the key to unlocking whatever the hell's been going on in Vale, but her interrogations weren't going anywhere.

"That's all I can say. If you wanted more I'm sorry, but that's all I have." He straightened his tie with a sigh. "Now, can you and your boyfriend skedaddle before the police come from that huge explosion you left at the front doors?" He first pointed to Bakugo, who was silently leaning against the bar in silence as he let Yang do the talking. He was hoping he'd be able to crush some heads when he walked inside and saw all the cronies around him- but the first priority was interrogation. Beating skulls in wasn't going to give them answers.

However, once he heard Junior imply that he was in some sort of relationship, his ears perked up and his eyes glared over to the bartender. His crossed arms unfolded, and one hand sparked with explosive power. "Wanna run that by me again, bastard?"

Yang opened a palm, telling Katsuki to cool it. As much as she liked to fight too, decimating these idiots now would be pointless and get nothing done. She was angry at the boyfriend remark too...but she decided to swallow the rage and turned around, drink still in hand. She pulled out a few lien and threw it behind her. "Thanks for the drink. Bye."

Bakugo walked next to her as they marched straight through the dance floor and towards the exit (which was completely exploded open). "Let's go. I hope the others are doing better than we are."

"Tch." Katsuki did his signature sound of mild disapproval. Not just at the fact that they didn't gather much information, but also the information they _did_ gather: The White Fang have gone silent from third-parties.

That meant they _were_ hiding something, extremely secret. Something that, if maybe introduced to the dark side, could cause chaos that maybe even they couldn't deal with.

He sighed as they hopped onto Bumblebee again. It was a leap of logic, but not misfounded. He just hoped he was wrong. "Dorms next?" He asked bluntly.

"Yeah…" Yang pulled out her scroll and looked through the Messaging App for any notifications from the other two teams. The only notification was from Weiss, who said that she and Shoto had wrapped up and she was back at the dorms, but then it vibrated again. It was from Tokoyami: a picture.

Yang cocked her head in curiosity as she scanned the image. "Woah, looks like they found somethi…"

A split second later, her scroll dropped to the floor. Katsuki immediately peered over her shoulder. "Oi, what the heck are you…?"

He saw something on the scroll. A picture that Tokoyami sent. He got off the motorcycle and picked up the device, and looked closer at it. "What the hell...so _that's_ what they look like?"

* * *

The CCT Tower, or the Cross-Continental Transmit Tower, is a part of a network that connects all Four Kingdoms together. First made in Atlas, it was a gift from the Kingdom after their Great War. Here, students can talk to their families at home, information can be relayed, and most importantly, communication can be established among the four kingdoms, which the leaders of the world hoped would prevent another Great War from happening.

This was the location where Weiss, Ruby and Shoto were tasked to go to; to gather information from the Schnee Dust company. At the night of the Vale Incident, White Fang were being spotted stealing SDC Dust containers from the docks, so they were there to see if any others had been taken recently.

All three of them were assigned…and yet only two walked through the doors. Shoto and Weiss silently and stoically walked through the tower and made it to the elevator. The Clearance they needed to access files this confidential would be in the upper echelons of the CCT.

"Just like her to run away at a time like this…" Weiss sighed as she looked over her nails again. "I get that her friend's important to her, and yeah, she did act a bit strange...but still. This is important."

Shoto didn't say a word. Honestly, he was still a bit shaken from last night, but half of his mind was forcing him to stay on task. Although he did notice Penny's...strange isolation and dissociation from the three of them. It _was_ weird, and maybe Ruby was right to try and get to the bottom of it.

There were dozens of floors to the tower, and they stopped just shy of the Governmental floor- in fact, just two flights of stairs below it. The voice that affirmed their identity was an actual person- the had to be sure the right people were going to the right communication rooms, and fortunately with their status, Weiss and Todoroki could pretty much go to any floor other than the extremely high-confidential ones.

When they got to the floor, it was nearly empty save for a couple students in the back. A hologram appeared at the front desk as the Schnee siblings approached. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross-Continental Transmit Center, Floor 49. How may I help you?"

"I'd like to make a call to the Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas, please." Weiss forced out a kind smile. She wasn't used to being jovial- but in a public setting, she had to keep appearances.

"Sure!" The attendant took a moment to type something in, and then looked back up with a smile. "The line will be open in Terminal 3 shortly."

They bowed in thanks, and walked over to the terminal labeled with the number. After a few seconds, the black screen lit to life as a woman appeared with the SDC logo spinning behind her. "Thank you for calling the Atlas...oh!" The brunette exclaimed as she eyed the two teens before her. "Weiss and Shoto Schnee, good evening to you both! Would you like me to put you through to your father, or Winter? I think the latter might be here too…"

Weiss gave that smile again as she began to speak. "No thanks-"

"-Actually," Shoto cut in behind her. "After we're done with this business, I'd like to speak to my sister." He said in his usual, monotonous tone. Weiss looked up and raised a brow at her brother, but in his eyes...she noticed something. She let go of her curiosity and turned back to the attendant.

"Okay." The woman nodded. "What would you like to speak about first?"

"Well...I was hoping you could gather up some files for us." The female Schnee pulled out her Scroll, and plugged it into the outlet on the table. It flashed green, signifying its connection and sending of information. The woman glanced down, and her brow raised for a second.

"I see...if I may ask, what is this exactly for?"

"School project." Weiss shrugged. It was the most convincing lie she could come up with, but the attendant gave a worried look, saying the documents on there were...very sensitive.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to be extra careful with them." Weiss assured.

"R-Right. If you insist, here you go." A bunch of beeping sounds followed, and her Scroll began to vibrate. "The information should be sent to you now."

The vibrating stopped, and Weiss unplugged the scroll as she gave a nod of thanks. "Now, Todoroki," the woman started, "you said you wanted to talk to your sister?"

The boy nodded, and Weiss silently got up from her seat and let Shoto take over. She mouthed, "I'm going to head back to the dorms now," and walked off, texting everyone that they had finished at the Tower and were coming back to the rendezvous point.

"Alright, patching you through to your sister…" the woman typed at her keyboard off-screen before looking back up. "You should be all set. Have a good night!" With that, the screen shifted, and a woman with white hair in a bun and military uniform was seen typing at another computer out of Shoto's vision. She was concentrated for a moment, and told him without looking, "Just a minute."

 _She must not know it's me,_ Shoto thought. Normally Winter didn't address him so passively, so she must have been too ingrained in her work to notice. _She probably gets a lot of calls throughout the day._

"And...done." She rolled back in her chair a bit and turned back. "Alright, now who is thi...oh. Shoto."

"Winter." He addressed her back quietly.

"Well...it certainly has been a while, hasn't it?" She smiled warmly. There were few people in the world she genuinely was concerned about- Ozpin and her boss Ironwood were two, but far more than that she looked out for Weiss and her youngest brother, Shoto. Despite looking somewhat of a Schnee, he was adopted, and certainly was the outcast of the family. With Weiss being pressured to be perfect, and Shoto being scarred both physically and mentally at such a young age...she couldn't help but feel protective of them both. It took her all of her power to convince her father to take Todoroki in, and even so, it was her mother that finally let Jacques relent. "How's your training been? Have you been making friends? How are your grades?"

"Good, kind of, and fine." He answered all three like a rapid-fire pistol. "I'm still working on trying to make my ice turn into viable shapes, like a spear, or a shield...It's going well, I can actually do some basics now."

"That's good." Winter nodded. "At this rate, you won't have to worry about getting a weapon- you can _make_ weapons yourself."

"That's what I'm hoping for…" He trailed off. Winter frowned as she realized...something wasn't right.

"So...why did you call me in the first place?" She asked. It was perfect timing- she had some free time for once and actually had a few minutes to speak. "Surely it wasn't just for pointless small-talk. That isn't like you, Todoroki."

"I...Winter," He stifled any emotion as his brain tried its best to zero in on what he wanted to ask. "...I'm sure you know of the incident at Vale, correct?"

"Of course. I'm an Atlas official, it's my job to know these things. Why?"

"I...I saw something that day. A monster. Something that took a miracle to beat, yet had torn apart all of my teammates like tissue paper. All of them besides Weiss and I suffered injuries that put them in the hospital for weeks. I…" He put his elbows on the table and looked at both hands. Right...then left. "...I wanted to use my left side. I hid it, but I felt the urge to. I feel like if I did, it would have helped a lot, but…"

He clenched his left fist. "I couldn't. Not after the last time I tried to."

"Where you burnt down the entire ballroom?" Winter asked. Shoto nodded slightly. Last time he tried using his left side, he was merely a boy, and Winter wanted to see if he could use it. It was post his... _scar_ , however, and it took a lot of talking to finally get him to use it. However…

Instead of a controlled burn that she could easily disperse, Todoroki's left side of his body lit aflame with crazed, wild energy that exploded forth, and burnt down the whole ballroom. Winter couldn't control it, and could only run away. She realized Todoroki was highly resistant to his own heat and cold, it takes a lot for the temperature to really affect him, so she was nearly certain he'd survive, especially with his right side.

But the building didn't. It was completely destroyed, even with the fire department's assistance.

So she understood the dilemma he was in. He was afraid he'd lose control, and instead of defeating the Nomu, he'd set the entire dock on fire and burn down everyone and everything, killing his friends in the process. And, seeing how the monster had withstood the full-frontal force of an explosion and fire, he wasn't sure if even _that_ would be enough to put it down.

But even so, he wanted to use all he had. She could admire him for that, however… "So, I'm assuming you need help."

"Y-Yeah." Shoto finally said. He'd been bottling up this issue for a while, but could finally open up to the one person who'd listen. "I need help...I need help controlling it. You're the only person who can teach me. Please, I...need it to protect everyone better. In that fight...all I could do was watch. My best efforts weren't even close to enough."

He also thought of whether or not he'd talk about the fact that he knew Izuku, Katsuki and Tokoyami _way_ before he met them, but...decided on telling her in person instead. He did it for Weiss, so it was only fitting he'd do it for Winter as well.

"I'm guessing you want me to tell you when I can arrive at Beacon for some lessons?" Winter jumped straight to the point. Time was running short on her end, after all. Shoto nodded, a glint of hope in his eyes, but Winter frowned. "I'm sorry, Shoto. I have a full plate for a while. My only open schedule is during the Vytal Festival, but by then you wouldn't be able to control it enough to use it in the Tournament."

"That's fine." Shoto shook his head. He didn't care about showing off in front of an audience. He just needed extra strength to do what he needed to do. "Just...come as soon as you can."

"I will." Winter reassured. "Now, I have a lot of work to do. It was very nice seeing you again, Shoto." She gave one last smile, and ever so slightly, the elder sister could see a hint of a smile underneath Todoroki's lips. "Keep up your training, your grades, and your social life. I'll see you soon."

The screen cut black. Shoto's faint smile faded into nothing as he stood back up and silently walked back to the elevator. He felt a rare emotion when he was speaking to Winter: happiness, and safety. However, it had fallen quicker than the elevator he was in was falling.

As it descended, he felt his Scroll vibrate, and pulled it out to see what it was. _Maybe it's a message from the team-?_

His eyes widened as the picture appeared in full. "No…"

He took a step back, then turned around as he put his fist to the door. "No...dammit…" Shoto's fist _slammed_ into the wall of the elevator, causing it to slightly rattle. "...Not...not again."

The one thing he wanted, no, _needed_ to prepare for...and it came before he was ready.

* * *

The bell rang at four, signifying the end of the day and dismissal from class. Most of the students would normally study at the library, work out at the gym, or mingle with others in the dorms or commons area, but for Izuku, his next location was different from most of everyone else.

He made it to the hospital wing of Beacon Academy. Since this _was_ a school for huntsmen and huntresses fighting the animalistic embodiments of darkness, injuries would happen often, so all Kingdoms required their schools be equipped with hospitals for the numerous people that would inevitably need medical attention. For him, he was finally going to get that damn cast off- and be able to use his arm again. For some reason, the healing was slightly faster than normal, so the doctor said she could remove it sooner than the next week.

Whatever happiness he felt at that, though, was suppressed by the other thoughts that drifted in his head. Should he have told RWBY so early on about their memory occurrences? Should he have ran? Who was that girl? He didn't know the answers to any of that.

He sat down in the waiting room after checking in, and all he could do was ponder those thoughts. When he thought about it...it was all strange. Something was going on, especially with him and the three other boys. It wasn't natural- it _couldn't_ be natural. That feeling that there was more to this story than he could see on the surface was beginning to become more and more plausible, like diving into the water to discover that glacier he was looking at was ten times larger than he thought.

Moreover...he couldn't shake that girl from his mind. He couldn't make out her exact facial features, but her voice was oh so extremely familiar. It's like...he knew her. But up until this point, he hadn't met anyone like that. Ever.

 _What the heck's going on…?_ Was all he could repeat in his head. There were a million questions, and no answer.

"Izuku Xiao Rose?" The nurse said as she popped the door open. Izuku looked up and his expression became more neutral as he came over and greeted the nurse, who directed him down to the doctor's office.

Within a few minutes, the doctor came in, did a quick check up, and removed his cast. Izuku compared both his arms: his right was bit a bit skinnier than the left, and it would stay like this for about a month or two.

"Be careful not to use your right arm too much," the doctor warned. "Whatever you did before had damaged your sinews. If you pull a stunt like that maybe...two or three more times, you may not be able to use your arm again."

"I won't, miss." He reassured, though he cursed inwardly at the comment of _two or three._ What he was about to get himself into- he was afraid he'd have to use his arm at a hundred percent more than two or three times.

He signed off, and headed back to his dorms, practicing using his arm by picking up stuff around the dorms. Nora and Pyrrha seemed to be out for extracurriculars again, so for now he was by himself.

All the while, that girl kept eating at his mind. After the room was literally picked clean (which took a bit thanks to Nora's...uncleanliness), Izuku found himself back on his bed, throwing a ball up into the air and catching it, over and over. The monotony of it allowed him to contemplate easier- and while he outwardly looked as bored as a primary schooler who ran out of things to do, Izuku's mind was moving _faster_ than the same primary schooler who just heard an ice cream truck outside.

It was all to put this together. What was the White Fang's real goal? To steal dust, yes, but that Nomu wouldn't be directly involved with stealing dust. It was powerful enough to put almost all of his friends down, including himself until that miracle from Ruby happened.

What were those memories? Why did Bakugo, Shoto and Tokoyami seem so familiar despite him not knowing them very well? Who was that girl? Was it the same issue- would he _actually_ meet up with her soon?

Tomura Shigaraki...that man scared him as well. Like Bakugo, he _knew_ that he knew him, from somewhere...he just couldn't place it. Unlike them, he had a feeling Shigaraki's intentions were a thousand times more malicious.

About halfway through his ball-tossing, he noticed he should probably write this all down. He stood from the bed and made it to the desk, and opened a nearby notepad, clicked a pen, and sat down on the chair.

A gust of wind shot past him. When he looked down, the notepad and pen were long gone. The color of the table changed too, and he could hear...talking around him? He studied the room around him and it became apparent that he was in a restaurant, sitting at a booth with the streets of a city to his left, and the bustling diner to his right. The menu was labeled "Joseph's".

"Uh...hello? Why're looking around like that?" He caught the faintest glimpse of a hand waving in his peripheral, and looked directly in front of him.

He stopped. He felt like a deer in headlights in that moment. _That's...her._

Only this time, he could see every detail. That neck-length chestnut hair, that little hair clip, that tan school uniform with a red bow, and those soft yet assertive light brown eyes. " _?'s_ out, so it's just us for a few minutes. How've you been?"

He blinked. He couldn't make out what she just said- he assumed it was a name, but it was like it had been ripped out of his head. "Uh...fine, I guess."

Deku decided to roll with it. He knew this was some sort of memory, or maybe a premonition...he didn't know. But he thought that acting out of line would ruin what it had to tell him (he noticed that these weird phenomenon would actually help him in some situations), so he kept to the metaphorical script.

"Good, just makin' sure, you looked a bit pale there." She grabbed a light-pink colored drink that was slightly fizzy, and took a sip of it. Her relaxed nature was pretty much the exact opposite of Izuku's- he felt so stiff he didn't want to even touch the water. "So, whaddya think of the festival coming up? I think it'll be fun- although I won't be able to use any of my powers."

'Powers'. _Oh, Semblances._ Izuku quickly put that together. _So...judging by the uniform, maybe she goes to Shade?_

"Why won't you be able to use them?" He asked. He assumed she meant the Vytal Festival- that biannual event that celebrates the peace between the four Kingdoms of Remnant. In that, there would be many festivities, some games, et cetera, but the biggest crowd-drawer would obviously be the Tournament: In which 16 teams enter, and every round they cut the teams in half until the singles match, where one person, representing their Kingdom, wins at the end. However, use of a huntsman or huntresses' weapon, as well as their Semblance, was completely legal- so why was she restricted?

"Uh...because I'm Level Five." She answered a bit worryingly, a brow raised. "Remember? Level Five's can't use their powers in the smaller events, but in the Tournament, it's fine."

"...Oh."

Now Deku was getting confused. There _weren't_ any smaller events leading up to the Tournament in the Vytal Festival. There were fun activities for the guests and kids in the grounds below the stadium, but nothing official.

And her mention of a 'Level 5'... _maybe Shade ranks their students by Levels based on their Semblance's power?_ He deduced. He didn't know much about Shade, so it was all he could come up with. All of his analysis was just purely guesses, though...in reality, he had no definite proof.

A waitress came up with a tray with three plates, all with similar breakfast items on them, and she served them to both Izuku and the girl, and left the other next to the latter. "Thank you." She said, and Deku followed suit. The waitress bowed before walking away, which Izuku found a bit strange.

 _Normally people at Vacuo aren't that formal...that's more of an Atlas thing._ Izuku thought. _This is...this is weird._

"So…" He picked up a fork and began picking at the sausages. "...who do you think will win the Tournament?"

It was a subtle way of interrogating her on whether or not they were talking about the same festival. The Vytal Festival included all four Kingdoms, but each school had their own Academy-wide festival that celebrated their history on the year that the Vytal Festival wasn't active.

If it was the Vytal Festival, then it would be fine. Asking her point-blank would confuse her- since the Vytal Festival was common knowledge amongst all students, and would probably offset this premonition, as Deku finally concluded it had to have been.

"Well...if I had to be completely honest…" She began as she put together a piece of bacon, egg and rice on a spoon. "The semifinals will probably be between you, Bakugo, Todoroki and me. I don't wanna sound full of myself, but...just based purely on objectives, I'd make it that far."

Deku blinked in response. _So...this girl's strong, then._

Todoroki was no pushover in a battle- he could freeze over an entire chunk of forest if he had to. He had yet to see Bakugo in battle, but his mere presence was enough to challenge Yang, and she was definitely stronger than most of his teammates in brute force.

He himself was strong, and agile. He was like a mixture of Ruby and Yang- he had Yang's raw power, and Ruby's speed.

So this girl, saying she could probably match them in a battle...it impressed him. If they ever met, which judging off this dream, he guessed _yes..._ he wanted to test his strength against her.

But there was one thing that was bothering him… _she didn't mention the most well-known huntress-in-training in the world. Surely she'd know about her and put her in the top four too, right?_

"What about Pyrrha?" He asked. She immediately stopped cutting her pancake and gave him a confused look.

"Who?"

"Onee-sama, how I've missed you!"

Deku immediately looked to his left, to see a girl with long pigtails in the same uniform as her...about to literally jump on her in a giant bear hug.

But instead, a flash of light overtook the room for a moment, and when it faded the girl was quite literally _smoking_ on the booth beside the brunette. Needless to say, Deku was besides himself. _So...that's her Semblance?_ He noticed the electric blue sparks that coiled around the girl's body. _Electricity...there's so many applications to that. She isn't lying about her strength then, I guess._

"Sorry, _?._ Normally I'd half-tolerate it, but I don't wanna get kicked out of this restaurant again." The girl blew the bangs out her eyes as she unfolded her arms. Her face was _intimidating,_ and probably even make the most courageous of men tremble.

"Ow…" The smaller girl beside her put her arm on the table in an attempt to sit back up. He had to admit, Deku found it entertaining.

"Anyways, what were you saying, Izuku? Uh...Izuku?"

His eyes grew heavy. From the girl's perspective, it looked like he was about to pass out. Suddenly, he lost all control of his body as he suddenly planted his face onto the table- more specifically, onto the food.

He eyes shot back open a second later. His face felt wet, and when he got up, he nearly gagged at the amount of drool all over the desk. He had passed out when he had that dream- and the entire notepad was pretty much saturated with his saliva. _Gross, gross...gross!_

He quickly got to his feet and into the bathroom, coming out with a spray bottle and enough paper towels to clean both himself and the desk.

Deku tried his best to at least _process_ what the memory had shown him...but it came up short. It really did nothing to help him other than show him what that girl really looked like. _Dang...maybe's there's something underneath the surface that I'm not understanding?_

He came back to the glacier analogy. What he saw on the surface probably wasn't all of what it provided for him. He scrubbed harder as he tried putting together the puzzle.

As he was cleaning, a rather loud _Knock-knock-knock!_ came from his door, almost scaring the socks off of Izuku and causing him to jump.

"Uh...am I interrupting something?" He looked up and saw an all-too recognizable Weiss, in what looked to be a completely new outfit. Izuku had to admit, it suited her.

"Oh...h-hey Weiss." He responded. He still wasn't sure of what she'd think of him, especially after his outburst last night. "Um...nice look. What're you doing here?"

"Just uh…" She held her scroll behind her back. "I was looking for you, actually."

Deku tilted his head. She was looking for him? Why? "Um...well, what do you need me for?"

She produced her Scroll from behind her back, and swiped a few times before clicking onto the Messaging App. "We went out investigating, all seven of us. And...something happened."

Weiss said those last words as if something tragic had occurred. Deku read it in an instant, and he tensed as he looked to see what the Schnee was staring at. "Look...look at this."

She turned the Scroll, and it was a message from Tokoyami. A picture.

Izuku's eyes widened in an instant. Slowly, he took Weiss' Scroll and examined it further. It looked slightly blurry, probably because it was taken in a rush, but there were six clear humanoid figures present.

One was a giant, robot-like object in the background. At the front was none other than Roman Torchwick himself- if there was any doubt he was working with the White Fang, it had all been obliterated now. Beside him was a rather short girl in white, dark brown and pink clothing: on the surface she didn't look too intimidating, and her parasol helped keep that illusion, yet something told Izuku she was formidable.

And...then the other three.

One was a sickly gray, one was yellow, and one was a pitch black, all with dark jeans. Pinkish brains grew from their skull, and from two of them, eyes grew from the gray matter. The dark-colored one was eyeless, but clearly the tallest and most muscular of the three.

The grayish one was lanky and skinny- you can nearly see the skeleton popping through the skin, but muscles still overtook its upper body. The yellow one was similar to the gray in shape, only two batlike wings sprung from its back, and a mask over its face.

One thing was certain among all of them.

"Oh...God…" He covered his mouth with his newly-useable hand.

"Come on, we have to go, _now."_ The Schnee grabbed Izuku by the arm and dragged him out the room.

"Wha-?!" He handed it back as he tried prying away- but even with his powerful Semblance, he couldn't break free of the grip.

"We're going to help them." Weiss said before he could further protest. "They need us. More specifically, we need _you._ They were caught, and are on the run in the city as we speak. If we don't help them…"

She grit her teeth as she remembered what had happened on the night of the Docks just a few weeks back. All of her friends and teammates broken, and battered. One hasn't even fully recovered, yet. "...You know what will happen."

"Okay." Izuku was filled with a tinge of conviction. Despite him still not fully knowing what was going on, one thing was clear: He needed to protect them. Screw those memories, screw the hiding, he thought. He put those in the back of his mind as he and Weiss marched down the halls of the Dorms.

 _It's time to be a Hero._

"Hold on." Izuku said, stopping both of them in their tracks. "You go on ahead, Weiss."

"What, _why?"_ She exclaimed. "You understand how important this is, right? Those things are _back_. We need to take care of them!"

"Yeah...I know." He nodded. "And I will. I just...need to get something. I'll be there."

Weiss gave him a look of suspicion, but ultimately she couldn't do anything to stop him. She let him go. "Alright...I'm trusting you on this." She took off, and Deku turned tail the other direction.

They went out opposite ends of the Dorms, and Deku ran towards a building just next to the training arena- the area where huntsmen and huntresses test each other's abilities in combat. Sometimes, the weapons they wield become damaged, and therefore need fixing.

"...There it is." He gazed up at the sign: 'Weapons Repair Shop'.

"Don't worry, sis. I gotcha."

* * *

"Oh...oh _God_."

Blake's worst feeling came true.

"I give you the Nomu!" Roman raised his staff in the air, expecting thunderous applause but instead got either confused silence or disgusted gags. He had to admit...they weren't really appealing to the eyes. "Yeah, kinda foresaw that, but!" He pointed to the Nomus, a sinister grin on his face. "These babies? Imagine the strongest, most brutal and most powerful Grimm, packed and condensed into about ten feet of pure muscle and hatred, and put under the perfect reign of me."

He lied at that last part- _he_ wasn't really controlling them, it was his higher-ups Shigaraki and Cinder in the background that truly influenced how they acted. However, using that card made him seem like an unstoppable force- and the masses always kowtow to people like that. "That's what these are. Even the professional Huntsmen can't even _dare_ to challenge these. And we can mass produce them...mass produce an _army_ of soldiers stronger and faster than humans can ever hope to be, and with their power we can finally topple those in control- we can finally take back what was _ours."_

Suddenly, the revelation of these creatures began to make sense to the White Fang recruits. They murmured amongst each other, affirming their own beliefs.

Blake and Tokoyami did the opposite. They were terrified.

Tokoyami was better at hiding it: he even subtely pulled out his scroll to take a picture and sent it to the others.

But the cat faunus had experienced the horrors of just _one_ Nomu before her eyes. What would _three_ cause?

She felt her hand shake, and slowly make it to her back where Gambol Shroud was located. She had an idea of where their weakness was: the brain, so if she could get a clear shot in the gray matter, it should go down easily. The only reason why the Nomu from before survived was because they caught her bullets- but if she hit them off-guard, all three should fall easily.

This wasn't an attack out of emotional hatred for what those bastards did to Sun and her friends. This was a coordinated, _planned_ assassination.

 _I'm going to end all of this. Now._

Quickly, Blake pulled out her weapon and fired at the electrical mainframe, causing the lights to darken. With that, the majority of the faunus couldn't see, but Blake knew that like her, there were bound to be other feline faunus in the warehouse that would quickly zero in on her location, as they had the unique ability to see in the dark.

In a split-second, before the crowd could even openly react, she turned her gun to the stage and fired three bullets- one aimed at each of the Nomu's heads, then immediately gestured to Tokoyami to run. They ran behind the crowds and towards their only option of escape- the window near the ceiling of the warehouse

She didn't see where the bullets hit- she was a good shot, but they were made in a half-second decision. A direct hit wasn't guaranteed, and she wouldn't get a second chance like that again.

Within a few seconds, a soldier yelled out. "I see them! It looks like one of them has cat ears!"

Blake's eyes widened in horror as she felt the top of her head. In that few-seconds rush, her hood must have come off. _Dammit!_

Upon hearing this, Torchwick cursed to himself as he readjusted his clothes. _Those stupid kids again!_

He shoved panicking Faunus out of his way as he began running up to the Atlesian Paladin, yelling back "GET THEM!"

That's when she knew things were about to hit the fan. With a grunt, Blake and Tokoyami jumped at superhuman speeds, breaking through the window and running along the roof of an adjacent building like their life depended on it, because it kind of did.

They glanced behind them, only to gasp in shock as a gust of wind and a loud _BANG!_ Almost knocked them off balance.

A giant, thirty-foot mech broke through the walls of the warehouse, quickly closing in on them. They turned to the more commercial area of Vale, running alone the rooftops while the Paladin was forced to run along the streets.

Above, they heard a ear-piercing shriek, and Blake's stomach dropped. She looked up, and saw those sickening yellow wings flap in the moonlight. The hideous creature was holding the other skinny one in its arms, which it dropped next to the muscled one, both keeping up with their already breakneck pace.

 _Damn!_ She cursed as she cleared a street-wide gap. _I thought I hit them…!_

She scanned the Nomus again. She had hit one in the eye, one in the skin just below the brain, and one was a glancing blow that ripped off a few chunks of pink matter, but it wasn't enough to truly damage it.

They were good shots, but not good enough, which was strange: normally she was an accurate enough shot to hit her mark every single time.

But that's when she realized it. Just before she took the shots, her hand was shaking. She was scared. _That's...that's what it was?! Dammit! After all this time, I'm still just a coward?!_

"Hey!" Tokoyami's deep voice yelled next to her. He seemed to have noticed how quiet she got. "Now's not the time to sulk- the weak will plateau, but the strong will carry on. We need a plan."

"..." Blake thought for a moment. There was nothing they could do themselves, so there was only one realistic option. She pulled out her scroll, and sent to the Message App the location of her to everyone, which was actively on the move as they ran. Hopefully, combined with the message Tokoyami sent, they'd get the message. "Help's coming. We just need to stay alive until then."

The Raven Faunus nodded in agreement, and they sped up as they cleared a rather large avenue gap between buildings. Unbeknownst to them, they had just passed up Junior's bar.

Bakugo glanced up, and the first thing he saw was a massive Mech stomp earthquakes down the streets of Vale. He looked down at the picture for affirmation, then grunted. "Tch. Looks like its them. Oi blondie, your head outta your ass yet? That was them."

When he turned to Yang, her eyes were a crimson red, but not at him- at the mech that just passed by. "Yeah, I'm on i-"

She felt _sharp_ talon dig into her arms as she suddenly felt extremely light as she sped into the air. Through the wind blowing her hair and dampening her vision, she could see the same creature she saw in the Scroll carry her into the sky. It screeched at her as it ascended- and in that moment, Yang felt weak. "D-Damn! Let go of me!" She shook her body as best she could, but the grip wasn't loosening. In fact, it was probably getting stronger, and she could feel the blood oozing from the talon wounds.

Her only weapons- the Ember Celicas, were on her forearms and useless at this angle. She couldn't escape, and she was taken to who knows where. "Damn...it!"

"OI!"

 _BOOM!_

A _massive_ shockwave shuddered the local area of Vale. Yang's head darted down to see what it was, and all she saw for a second was a bright flash of an explosion, and a massive dust cloud that overtook the area. A figure quickly approached- one with spiky blonde hair that quickly whipped past the huntress's face and towards the upper body of the flying Nomu.

Katsuki Bakugo yelled out in anger yet satisfaction- he'd been waiting to get in a good fight, and it seemed these giant sons of bitches would give him the challenge he wanted. "Oi, you weird flying abomination..." He grabbed it by the throat, planted his legs into its stomach, then put one hand on its face. "DIE!"

Small sparks triggered a massive _Boom_ as a huge shockwave nearly as large as the one that propelled him up here blasted full-force into the Nomu's head, singing away his gray matter. The heat was high enough to carbonize its cells- and at that point, regeneration was useless.

Just like that, the Nomu's grip on Yang loosened as she was let go and began falling towards the ground. Katsuki had been recoiled back several meters from the explosion, but bounced back quickly with smaller ones that made him almost seem like he could fly. He gripped Yang around the stomach, and put in controlled bursts until they landed back on the ground safely.

He let go of Yang as soon as it was appropriate, and said, "Let's go. I'm gonna go kill whoever the hell's in that damn mech, and those two other weird bastards."

Yang blinked. Up until this point, Katsuki was just silent anger- but right then and there she could see that side of him- the one of pure, unbridled rage. She had to admit, there were some points of it she could relate to.

"A-Alright-!" She winced as the wounds on her arms slowly oozed blood. It didn't hit an artery, but vessels were definitely punctured, and there were three obvious points of contact, "Damn...that thing got me good...my hands feel kinda weak." She looked up at Katsuki. "Hey, normally I never allow others to drive Bumblebee, but this is an emergency. At least until my Aura heals these wounds, ya think you can drive us to wherever they're going?"

Bakugo shrugged. He knew how to drive, although this was his first time on a motorcycle, but he was sure he could handle it. "Yeah whatever, just get in the back."

He didn't care for the helmet, letting Yang put it on instead as he turned on the engine and zoomed off.

Yang quickly found herself grabbing Katsuki as he wasn't necessarily going _fast-_ but accelerating too sharply for her taste. "Jeez, is this your first time?"

"Don't make it sound weird." He muttered, and pushed further as they made it to the highway within minutes. Up ahead they could see it- a massive mechanized war machine barreling down the roads as two dark-colored figures hopped cars to try and get some distance. However, under the loud sound of the wind whipping past their ears, they heard a growl behind them.

Katsuki glanced at the mirror, and saw two black and white creatures begin to stomp towards them at shockingly quick speeds. _Found them...dammit!_

"Oi, wanna handle those things?" Bakugo asked.

"With…" His passenger cocked her Ember Celicas. Her arms weren't fully healed, but the pain was dulled enough for her to be a good shot. "...pleasure."

She shot an arm forward, and a Dust bullet rang out towards one of the Nomu. It raised its arm to block it, and the hit made a small dent in its skin that quickly leveled out. Yang rolled her eyes- she knew it wouldn't be _that_ easy, but…

...But then she remembered back at the docks, when they had battled that Nomu that nearly tore them apart. It took them all they had to finally put it down: explosions, glaciers, countless bullets- and even then, it survived through all of it and even _caught_ the bullets.

However...this one, instead of easily plucking it from the air like its predecessor, simply blocked the attack, which actually did some damage. That, and the fact that Bakugo seemed to have murdered one rather handily…

 _They...aren't as strong as the one before!_

Yang smirked. Maybe this wasn't so hopeless, after all. "Hey, gun it!"

"Oi, don't tell me what to do!"

"It's _my_ motorcycle, a-hole! Now GO!"

Bakugo sped up even further, quickly approaching the Paladin while the Nomu, in turn, appeared to accelerate to catch up to them. Yang noticed that both had slightly increased in muscle mass in order to do so- but an explanation was one she both didn't care for and didn't know.

She cocked both of her weapons and shot bullet after bullet coming their way- some were misses, but most were direct hits that were blocked. Each time, it seemed that they were getting more and more used to the attacks- as if they were adapting to them. "Damn, guess that's not working!" She fired another shot for good measure, which managed to pierce through its defenses and hit the black Nomu in the eye. It roared in pain, but the eye quickly healed over with a strange, red viscous liquid. "...Gross."

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake and Tokoyami continued their run down the highway. They had to admit- they began losing steam, and it seemed that Paladin wasn't slowing down. They needed go through with the plan, _fast._

Blake had an earpiece (that came with the Scroll) in, as Weiss had texted her a few minutes ago that she'd be in position at a certain location. They were luring Torchwick there, but every car they jumped on was not only a potential civilian casualty, but the more tired they became.

 _Come on...just a little further...there!_

They jumped over the freeway on either side, and made it so Torchwick was coming up on an overpass above the road he was on. A white figure gracefully fell below, until landing on the ground with a black gravity glyph below her for support.

Weiss Schnee glared at the giant robot before her, and Torchwick smirked back with cockiness. No way was a girl that small able to take him on by herself, right?

He charged, aiming to squash the girl with his massive arms, but his eyes widened when the Schnee lifted her Myrtenaster in the air, spun around then _stabbed_ the blade into the asphalt, which unleashed a cold breeze and a frozen ice floor that quickly reached his Paladin. Its wheels weren't tracted enough for ice, so it slipped towards the edge until it broke through the walls and fell towards the bottom of the freeways.

There, Blake and Tokoyami were waiting. Blake pressed her earpiece and said: "I'm here."

The Mech got to its feet, and its pure size simply dwarfed the two students. The White and Black Nomus _smashed_ into the ground on either side, crawling on all fours until pulling up to their hind legs. For some reason, Blake half-noticed they were much more...muscular than they were earlier, like they had taken steroids between then and now.

Weiss landed next to Blake, and looked side-to-side at their competition. "...Looks like its the Vale Incident all over again...but somehow worse."

Then, Yang and Bakugo blasted down on both sides of the group: Katsuki next to Tokoyami, and Yang beside Weiss. The blonde commented: "Hey, at least we're together this time."

 _WSSH!_ Another gust of wind caused the huntsmen and huntresses to wince. A red blur had stopped in front of them: Ruby came, but she looked a lot more tired than usual: panting for breath. "I...came as soon as I heard, but I was... _ah..._ all the way across town." She looked back up, and her stomach dropped a little at what they were up against. "I don't know if I can help, though. I don't have Crescent Rose with me…"

"Ruby!" She turned to the cat faunus, who tossed her the sheath of Gambol Shroud, which was actually still pretty sharp. She nearly didn't catch it, to Yang's dismay but also slight entertainment. "Use that for now. I know you're not much used to it, but its better than nothing, right?"

The young huntress felt the cleaver-like object n her hands. It was a lot lighter than Crescent Rose, but the hilt held most of the weight, meaning she could have more control over her cuts. She gripped it with both hands and held it like a katana as she eyed Torchwick. "I can handle it. What's the plan?"

"Uh…" Yang deadpanned. "You're the leader."

"O-Oh! Right!" Her eyebrows furrowed as the grip around her sword became stronger. She had to make a decision, and fast: Torchwick and the Nomus were beginning to march towards them. "Okay...Weiss, you're with me on the Black Nomu. Bakugo and Tokoyami, you two handle the White Nomu. And Bumblebee," She looked to Yang and Blake. "Can you guys deal with Torchwick?"

"Gladly." Yang punched her fist into her palm before reloading her weapons. "I've wanted to punch that bastard's face in ever since he sent that thing at us back at the docks." She turned to the rest of the group. "As a small note...I've noticed they aren't as strong as the Nomu from before, and their weakness is the brain if you dig hard enough or burn it enough."

The five nodded, and like that Ruby took the helm. "Let's do this!"

They broke off, and charged. The Nomus intercepted their opponents first, but either side took a different way of approaching them.

Ruby zipped around the Nomu and tried stabbing it in the brain from behind, but the monster quickly spun around and backhanded her blade, sending her away. Weiss zipped in from the front, aiming for a quick jab with her rapier. It hit its mark, as the Nomu was distracted with Ruby at that moment, but she had to quickly retreat as it turned and was about to crush her.

She spun the wheel in her weapon and fired an ice, fire, then earth Dust blasts at the Nomu. It barely reacted to the fire, but the ice hit its forearm, freezing it and hindering its movement. The Earth one fell just short of it, but managed to make it lose balance in tandem with the Ice attack and cause it to trip. Weiss jumped up, aiming to take advantage by stabbing it through the head with Myrtenaster, but a powerful burst of air knocked her back.

The huntress regained control as she landed and realized what it was: the Paladin had released multiple missiles, one of them nearly hitting her.

The Mech had temporarily stunned Yang and Blake by shooting those missiles, but they were back on the offensive. Yang came in close: she drew all the fire and shot a decent amount back, which dented the Paladin's armor and knocked a few cameras out of commission, limiting Torchwick's vision. Blake circled the fight, using her Semblance to dodge any incoming attacks.

"Alright…" Torchwick pressed a few buttons on the command console, and the machine whirred in response. "I've had it up to here with these damn brats."

The Paladin's right arm shifted into a giant cannon, with a twisted barrel in the middle that glowed with an eerie orange color. Before the blonde huntress could react, it blasted a _massive_ wave of flames at her.

"Yang!" Blake rushed in in an attempt to save her friend. In that moment, she flashed back to the night at the docks: Seeing her friends hurt like that nearly broke her, and certainly broke Ruby. She couldn't let that happen again!

But unfortunately, emotion couldn't trump overwhelming force. She gasped as massive, cold metallic fingers grabbed onto her before she could evade it with her Semblance. Torchwick lifted her up, slowly squeezing her body. Her lungs vacated all the air, and she could feel her own blade cutting into her arm and drawing blood. _Damn...it…!_

Torchwick increased the temperature of the fire, while also continuing to crush the life out of Blake. "Haha! Two little birds with one stone!" He exclaimed. "C'mon, where's your spunk? Didn't you take down a giant Nomu not that long ago?"

He got a little suspicious that the boy who had _actually_ put that Nomu down wasn't here, but he shrugged it off. The less people there were, the better. "I'm going to kill _all_ six of you for threatening my plans!"

Yang had her arms in front of her face, but it didn't do much to protect from the searing heat. Her aura was a decent shield, but it was quickly being overwhelmed. If something didn't happen, and _soon_ , it would overtake her.

And like that, it stopped. She looked up in surprise, her face and arms- heck, the entire front of her body slightly burnt. The Paladin had been skewered by a giant lance made of pure ice, that cut through its arm and prevented the flamethrower from working.

She peered up, and locked onto a figure with red and white hair falling down towards the battlefield. When he landed, the area around him became a freezer; the ground covered in a slick layer of ice.

Shoto got to his feet, then _swung_ his right arm across at the Paladin, sending a _massive_ wave of spiky white ice at his opponent, which pierced into the Paladin's armor and held it in place. It cut off the circuitry in its left arm, allowing the grip around Blake to finally let off, and she fell limply.

Fortunately, he had also made an ice slide that brought her over to him and Yang. "Blake! Are you okay?"

There was no answer. The Paladin had probably knocked her unconscious.

Todoroki looked down at Yang, and his eyes widened as her hair began to glow with what he could only describe as _fire_. "Alright, you big metal asshole…" The blonde reloaded her weapon, and marched over to it like she had something to prove. "You're going the hell down."

Torchwick had broken free, but Shoto didn't feel like helping Yang. He had a feeling he'd only get in the way with...whatever she had turned into.

He directed his attention over to Bakugo and Tokoyami, and they seemed to be holding their own, although... _Why is only one of them fighting?_

Tokoyami was watching from a distance, studying the fight as Bakugo used his Explosion Semblance to maneuver himself around the Nomu. It seemed to be working- he was getting hits in, but it wasn't enough to blow its brains out or at least melt it to the point of no regeneration.

Suddenly, the White Nomu roared out, its muscles becoming more actively bulged as it hooked onto Katsuki's leg while he was trying to fly over it. He grunted, _smashing_ his fist across the monster's face and punctuating that with a concentrated blast, but the Nomu recovered and responded with a punch ten times heavier, and directly in the jaw.

Katsuki _swore_ he heard a bone crack as he was sent flying near Tokoyami. He cursed to himself, over and over as he struggled to get to hit feet. "You gotta be kiddin' me..!" He smack the ground. "Damn! Why the hell is it so strong? I blew its buddy's head off not too long ago; why is _he_ not dead yet?!"

"They must have some sort of muscle growth attribute to them," Tokoyami suggested. The Nomu's body began to grow, its arms bulging. "Just look at it. It seems to be at least thirty percent larger than when we first saw it."

"Well...aren't you a smartass?" Katsuki got to his feet, wiping the blood off his face. "I'll kill this thing right now, so get outta the way."

"No."

"Huh?" The blonde's attention quickly went to Fumikage. "The hell'd you say?"

"I'll deal with it from now on. I suggest you do not hurt yourself any longer." The bird faunus said. "The only way to deal with a monster…"

Suddenly, black smoke began flowing from Tokoyami's body, covering him an inky black armor of sorts that took the shape of a raven. Its sharp yellow eyes targeted the Nomu as the faunus stepped forward. "...Is to send in another monster."

Bakugo did his signature "Tch", and say on the ground as he pulled out a bandage and began wrapping it around his arm.

The Nomu and Tokoyami went from walking to running at each other, until meeting in the middle and gripping hands. Black, shadowy digits wrapped around the Nomu's, pushing it back. With a deep roar, Tokoyami shoved the white demon, and now that its belly was open he slashed at the torso with his _Black Ankh_ armor- making four deep red cuts across the monster's body. It shrieked in response, first flailing in pain, then becoming eerily silent as the wounds began to heal. Tokoyami took advantage of this by coming in with another blow- but the monster grabbed the Shadowed arm and began to push back towards him.

He narrowed his eyes as the Nomu's body continued to grow, its muscles nearly breaking the skin. _Something_ was making it stronger by the second.

Suddenly, his attention pointed to a massive fist coming towards him at breakneck speeds, and he managed to block it with his free arm. He grit his teeth as the force reverberated throughout his body, causing his muscles to ache in response.

Then, it got dark above him. He looked up, and all he could see was what had to be _tons_ of concrete debris raining down on him. In an instant, he jumped away, as well as the Nomu.

He scanned the battlefield for the cause of it, and that's when he saw it. His eyes widened in shock.

"...That damn idiot is too reckless." He looked over to Bakugo, who was watching the fight with the same neutral yet slightly-aggressive face of his.

Torchwick's Mech had recovered quickly, and although one arm was now unusable, he could still use the right arm, which had reverted back into a hand. In his duel with Yang, he had grabbed the huntress off his face- she had been trying to break open the cockpit with brute force- and shoved her through concrete pillar after concrete pillar in an attempt to break her aura and put her down, but it finally took _three_ pillars and several dozen tons of force until he saw her eyes weaken. After breaking through the third pillar, he tossed her body away like a ragdoll, and she slumped to the ground.

"YANG!" Ruby gasped in horror at her sister collapsing, and turned to Shoto in a rush. "Hey! Help your sister and I'll help mine!"

Shoto nodded as Ruby took off, and he ran to help Weiss deal with the Black Nomu.

Unfortunately, only one of them made it to their sibling. Ruby got about halfway before a _massive_ fist smacked the side of her head, sending her flying then skidding across the ground, tearing her leggings and drawing painful blood. She grunted in pain, getting to her feet to see who had hit her.

The White Nomu shrieked at her, and slowly crawled towards her on all fours- like an emaciated tiger hunting its prey. Ruby held Blake's sheath in her hands, but she knew in the back of her mind it would be no use.

Her aura was low, and she couldn't use her Semblance with her fatigue. She could only do one thing.

With a cry of defiance, she charged at the Nomu, swinging down with the blade. The monster found the sudden spike of energy surprising and was caught off guard, forcing to block the sword with its arm. The sheath cut about an inch into its skin, spurting blood and making it cry out in anger.

Ruby pulled away, held its arm, and prepared to stab it in the brain to finish it off.

Before she could even thrust her sword forward, she saw a glimpse of a pale fist in the corner of her vision, and then excruciating pain on one side of her head, then the other as she was slammed into the ground. Her vision was double for a second, and she groaned as she rolled onto her back.

The Nomu towered over her, and grabbed her by the hair and pulled another fist back as it prepared to crush her skull open.

"Dang...guess...this is…" She uttered.

Then, the scream.

"Crescent...SMASH!"

A huge weight was lifted off of Ruby as the Nomu was suddenly met with a concentrated shockwave that hit its body, knocking it sideways several meters. It looked up, and saw... _something_ jumping towards it.

Ruby's vision was still blurry, but all she could make out was an electric green blur rushing towards the Nomu, holding a...red, curved weapon. _Is...that…?_

The newcomer threw the weapon at the Nomu, and the curved edge spun in mid-air at breakneck speeds. The Nomu had little time to react, and it finally _sliced_ into its target with a sickening sound of cutting flesh and the gush of blood.

The tip lodged itself directly into the Nomu's brain, digging about a foot of the blade square in the center of its head. The Nomu fell to its knees, limp.

The newcomer finally landed on the ground. Ruby could see who it was clearly now, with his green uniform, forest-green hair and viridescent, sparking aura.

He walked up to the Nomu and pulled the weapon out of its head, allowing it to collapse onto the ground, before turning around and holding the scythe- Crescent Rose, down to her.

"I think this is yours."

* * *

On the other end, things weren't as hopeful.

Weiss held out several gravity glyphs, which was an attempt to push the Nomu the opposite direction. But no matter how high she cranked it up and no matter how much stamina she put into it, it still continued to step forward. Its muscles grew larger and larger, and it broke through glyph after glyph before finally...she ran out of defenses.

Weiss gasped as the Nomu grabbed her left arm, causing her to drop Myrtenaster. It pulled back a fist, but an incoming ice spear caught its attention as it pierced into its back. It dropped Weiss, and turned to the newcomer who had covered half his body in ice armor.

Shoto sprinted up to the Nomu at full speed, using his Semblance to make the ground around Weiss icy and slippery so she'd slide away. The Nomu wasn't phased at this, and charged right at him, but Shoto was hoping for that.

Turning his right arm into basically a blunt-force object made of ice, he _smashed_ it into the monster's gut, causing it to stagger, but not as much as Shoto had hoped.

It recovered almost instantly, and brought a hand to his face, grabbing then _ripping_ the ice off of it. He glanced back up as it was pulling back another fist, and recovered his face in the ice as it slammed into him, the pure force behind it breaking his armor again and forcing him onto the dirt.

The Black Nomu screeched, then raised its fist over its head to smash Todoroki into the ground permanently, but it felt an _extremely_ sharp pain in its stomach. Weiss had zipped back as soon as she could, and her Myrtenaster emptied out its Fire Dust canister- coating the Nomu in a wave of hot flames.

Its skin seared and its brain heated up, but it grew even further in size as it resisted the pain. Around its neck, Shoto held a spear made of blue ice in its throat, and forced it to arch back, getting the monster's head into the hotter parts of the flames. He made sure to protect his own body by constantly making more ice, while the Nomu essentially cooked.

But it wasn't enough. It grabbed Weiss's blade and slid it out, throwing it away, then tossed Todoroki over its head. It grabbed Weiss by the neck, forced her into the ground and jabbed her in the jaw- knocking her out cold.

Then, it turned its attention to Shoto. His eyes widened as the Nomu approached him at near incomprehensible speeds. He needed to react swiftly.

Around his right arm, an ice blade formed about half a meter in length, just enough to pierce into the Nomu's head and kill it properly. That was all he could make- his energy was running on fumes at this point.

The Nomu swung its fist, but Shoto managed to block it with his left hand, feeling his bones dent under the pressure. With a grunt, he thrusted forward with all his might-

-But it was caught. The Nomu sidestepped and easily grabbed the blade by the base, and tore it off.

Before he could even react to what happened, it pierced the ice to him...but stopped, _millimeters_ from Shoto's gut.

Now, he had time to process. _Wh...what?_

He directed his attention up. Its head was gone.

And in that second, a _strong_ gust of wind knocked him off balance, and caused the headless Nomu to limply collapse.

A girl in red, with a long cape and torn uniform, held a massive scythe in her hands. For the first time, Shoto breathed a sigh of relief. _...Looks like she got it back._

* * *

Yang lay silent as a slight breeze blew through her hair. She had just got finished getting pummelled through what must have been hundreds of tons of concrete all at once, and now Torchwick was coming in for the kill.

"Like an ant to a boot…" He muttered. This was going to be too easy!

'Torchwick. Torchwick, can you read me?'

"Kinda busy here." He replied back to the feminine voice in his earpiece. It was his boss, and she didn't sound too happy. "Whaddya want?"

'I don't know if you can see it on your monitors, but all of the Nomu have just gone silent. They were _killed_ , Torchwick. Your little blunder with the kids have just slaughtered three of our best cards. You should have let those faunus go.'

'Don't listen to her…' A new voice said, this one...male, for sure, but his voice was like listening to sandpaper- it nearly made him cringe from the creepiness. '...We can make more at home. Those were just low-ends, after all.'

"They why haven't you given us high-ends, yet?" Torchwick questioned as he kept stepping forward. He was so distracted with the conversation that he didn't see Yang's hand ball into a fist.

'Because one, I don't trust you to handle Nomu of that caliber, and two...they're still a work in development. The only mid-end we had was just taken into custody on my end, so it will be a while before we have a lot in our arsenal.'

"Great...juuuust great." Torchwick rolled his eyes. He had just finished selling the Nomu to the new White Fang recruits, and now that there wasn't going to be a restock for a while, it kind of affected his business plan. "Well, get them working then."

'Torchwick.' The female voice took over, and it cut into him like a hot knife. Despite his relative outward nonchalant attitude towards her...he found her intimidating sometimes. 'Look. In. Front of you.'

He looked back at the main monitor, and… "What the hell...she's still standing?!"

In front of the Paladin, Yang Xiao Long stood, blood dripping from various wounds, but still alive. She grabbed her already torched and torn vest and ripped it off- showing the black tank top underneath. Her hair flared up, and her eyes opened to reveal a deep, maroon crimson with a look to kill.

Torchwick grit his teeth. He had just sent that girl through multiple pillars _after_ he had basically burned her alive! How was she still standing?!

He pulled the Paladin's fist back and threw it forward- accelerating it with the rocket elbow, aiming to blast the huntress away.

But it stopped in its tracks.

A good distance away, a winded Bakugo narrowed his eyes at Yang. _So_ that's _her Semblance, huh?_ _She can take a beating and come back from it, stronger._

She caught the arm with her hands, then pulled one back as her hair glowed to its brightest. With a scream of defiance, she _slammed_ the Paladin with her full strength, ripping the arm into shrapnel and broken parts.

Torchwick backed away in surprise. He didn't expect _that_ large of a jump in power.

Then...around him, he noticed something.

The kids that he had hated ever since he met those siblings on the night of that Dust robbery...them and their friends were slowly surrounding him. In the rear-camera, he spotted a wave of ice made from the Female Schnee, that wrapped around the Paladin's legs and restricted its movement. She had gotten back to her feet thanks to her brother.

An explosion resounded on his left. A boy with spiky hair and a murderous look spun towards him with his hands glowing.

Behind him, a girl with a massive scythe- that girl that he had met before- zoomed in his direction with her scythe pulled back.

To his right, that boy- that boy in green who had taken down that mid-end Nomu, was zipping at him with a determined demeanor.

And to his front, that blonde chick used her weapons to accelerate her at him.

They all yelled a cry of war as they approached him at once. All Roman could to was brace for the impact.

 _BOOM!_

A slice, an explosion and two punches rang out at once, _completely_ obliterating the Paladin and scattering the pieces across the barren battlefield.

Torchwick fell in the middle of it all, groaning as he landed on his back, and quickly getting to his feet. "Dang...just got this cleaned out, too…"

Izuku, Katsuki, Yang and Ruby landed on his four cardinal directions, and he spun around to see that all eight of the kids were slowly closing in on him. _Crap...okay, not good._

He heard a beep from the Scroll in his pocket. _Nevermind._

Yang cocked Ember Celica, then launched a fiery shot at Torchwick.

It didn't hit him. What she saw instead was a...parasol?

It lifted, to reveal the final figure they had seen in the picture: a girl in brown, white and pink. Her hair was half pink and half brown, and her eyes had heterochromia as well...looking at it, Shoto felt a chill up his spine.

 _That's...way too uncanny._

"Ladies, gentlemen…" Torchwick addressed the group with a confident smirk. Now that she was here, he pretty much was safe. "It's been a pleasure. Neo, if you would."

The girl bowed in response, as if saying bye to the huntsmen and huntresses before her. She was petite- even shorter than Ruby, but that didn't stop Yang from yelling out and charging before everyone else, aiming to knock the girl's lights out.

The huntress threw her fist forward...and Roman and the girl shattered like glass. "H-Huh?" She looked around. They were gone.

Suddenly, a whirring of an engine could be heard by them. The Eight turned, and they saw Torchwick and Neo in a Bullhead that quickly took to the skies and out of reach.

"They got away…" Izuku's fist clenched as he watched the vehicle until he no longer could follow it.

"Damn, I really could have gone for beating that bastard's head in, but whatever…" Bakugo turned and began walking off, with Tokoyami silently following suit.

Shoto put Weiss's arm around his neck- a decently reversal since the last time they were in a fight this intense. Blake seemed to have recovered...and overall, they had all made it through with just some minor injuries.

They looked to take the Nomus in so the Vale Government could study their makeup, but the bodies had vanished. When they weren't looking, they had somehow disappeared.

"Hey...everyone." Izuku said now that everyone was pretty much winding down at this point. "I'm...sorry for running like that, and I'm also sorry that I hid something that big from all of you." He bowed for forgiveness, but RWBY quickly shrugged him off.

"Hey...don't worry about it." Ruby pushed his chin up and pulled him back to his feet. "Just know that all of us are here for you, okay? Don't think that any information you get, you have to shoulder yourself."

"Yeah, trust me." Weiss said, looking over to Blake as an example. "It doesn't go too well."

In response, the cat faunus looked away in silence.

"Look...I'm going to level with you, bro." Yang walked up to him and gently chopped him on the head. "I was pissed with you. But...as long as you understand that you can always come to us for help...we can be buddies again. Deal?" She offered her hand. Izuku immediately took it.

"Deal."

"Tch…" In the back, Bakugo turned around in disgust. "Don't give me that sentimental crap."

"Alright, now that everything's back to normal…" Ruby pressed the button on Crescent Rose to turn it back into gun form, but...nothing happened. "Wait...ah, crap. Forgot."

The red huntress sighed and just hefted Crescent Rose over her shoulder. She had just remembered that as she was repairing her weapon in the shop, she only got as far as just mending the Scythe form before they had to leave for the investigation. It would probably be another few days to a week before it was rebuilt completely. "Guess I have to deal with this until we head back..." She sighed. "Anyways, now that we're all good, we should head back and compile our information. Got it?"

"Got it." Everyone said in agreement.

"Good." The leader of RWBY, and seemingly the leader of this group now, took charge as the Eight made their way back to Beacon.

Then her stomach growled. She stopped and blushed in embarrassment. "Uhm…" She swung around, and smiled sheepishly. "Before _thaaat..._ who's hungry?"

Most of them raised their hand. "Oh. Well, there's a shawarma place not too far from here. I dunno what it is, but I wanna try it. Who's in?"

* * *

Location: ?

"Damn…" The scratching noises reverberated through the warehouse, making some of the White Fang men cringe as they stood guard. "Damn...damn...damn!"

Tomura Shigaraki's eyes narrowed at the Nomu's lifesigns, which were completely gone. He had a control machine and a monitor before him that followed what Torchwick and the three Nomus saw, and with that control panel he could accelerate the metabolic processes of the Nomus, allowing their muscle mass to increase dramatically.

But it didn't matter. They all had fallen, and these _stupid_ kids were all still alive! "They're stronger than we thought they are." He concluded. "I need a mid-end Nomu...no, _multiple_ mid-end…"

"Calm down, Shigaraki." Cinder's seductive voice said in the speaker on the Scroll, but he was having none of it. Ever since he met that woman, he had hated her. He didn't care if she was some sort of super-powerful, element controlling 'Maiden'- He knew other people where he came from that could wipe the floor with her. "Now's not the time to whine like a child and get back at them with unplanned aggression. We need to think of our next move."

"Yeah yeah, I've already thought of something." Shigaraki responded dismissively. "You go do whatever it is at Beacon. I'm going to go back where I came from...and get some extra help." He clicked off the call, and got up from his seat, bringing his Scroll with him.

He walked across the warehouse where his attendant, Kurogiri, was cleaning a glass in a makeshift but rather well-made bar. He sat at the counter and asked for a drink while he went on his Scroll and called the only person he knew who could help him.

It rang two or three times...then picked up. He didn't hear anything, but he knew that _he_ was listening on the other side.

"Father? I need some assistance."

…

"Good...Shigaraki, good." The voice finally said. "You're learning. When you run an empire of my caliber, you need multiple arms. If you're by yourself, you will only get so far. What do you have in mind?"

Shigaraki pondered for a moment as Kurogiri handed him a glass of bourbon, and he lifted up the hand on his face as he drank it. After setting it down, an answer was reached. "...Someone that can kill those damn brats. Or at the very least...teach them a lesson."

"Very well." The voice agreed. "You may get what you desire. I know many underground branches in this city...and fortunately, I happen to know a group that will achieve what you need."

Shigaraki looked at the screen, that simply read 'Sound Only'. He was intrigued. "Tell me."

"I'll send you the pictures, and a list of their achievements." Some text notifications popped up, and the villain pressed onto them with the call still active.

His eyes widened a little. There were four girls, each with their own quirky demeanors: one was stoic, one looked nearly bored, one looked giddy and confident...however, the last one surprised Shigaraki the most. "Is that…"

"Yes, it's the Number Four." The voice sounded amused, _pleased_ , almost. "I'm sure she will be of great use to you. Her and her group have done some...interesting things. All you have to do is rack up the money to pay them, and they will do what you ask."

"..." Shigaraki looked at the list one more time, and then back at the girls. "I will take them into account."

"Good. When you need them, I will contact them in request for a meeting. Remember, Shigaraki…"

"Yes, Father?"

"I will allow you to fail, as many times as you need. Because when you finally win...those children will know what it is like to lose."

And like that, the screen cut off.

Shigaraki sat up suddenly, to the bartender's surprise. "Kurogiri," He started, and the black mist looked to him for a command. "Let's head back to where we came from."

"Are you sure, Shigaraki?" The Villain asked. "If we do, I will not be able to make a jump back here for another week...it takes up too much of my energy. Are you _sure_ you want to go back?"

"Of course." Tomura replied, a smile under his hand-mask. "The Festival is happening over at that damn school right now...I don't wanna miss seeing the kids that managed to screw me over on both sides."

* * *

 **You probably get it now, right?**

 **There's two worlds, in a nutshell. And that's all I'll say about that. This story will go beyond (haha) the confines of Remnant and into something greater...and while I'm excited to show you what I have planned for that, I'm keeping it grounded now, and even just like this I'm stoked for all the things I have up my sleeve.**

 **I do want to add that the Ruby/Penny scene was completely omitted because...well, literally nothing else changed from here to there. Nothing. Zilch. That's why I didn't add it, because what was really the point? It happened off-screen though, so nothing was changed. I just didn't want to be repetitive.**

 **There's not much else to say about that. Sorry that the Investigation Arc was rather short- I covered two whole RWBY episodes in one chapter, just so I can get the story moving. To be fair, this chapter _is_ kind of a two-in-one, so...maybe it's just the right length? I don't know, but I hope you also enjoyed the reuse of the Hosu Nomu; I figured here would be a good time to introduce them to the cast, and also show how much better RWBY and the four Hero Aca Boys are when they're together and know what they're up against.**

 **That's the main reason why they didn't get horribly maimed like last time. They knew how to fight them, and with only a few unknown factors, were able to put them down.**

 **But besides that...I think that concludes this arc. Next time, we'll be going to see what Ren and Nora have been doing, get to see Pyrrha, and preparing for the dance. Yes, THE dance. The dance to end all dances.**

 **Just wish Jaune was there...or is he?**

 **Edit: Before anyone gets excited...no, I will not be doing any shipping in this story between MHA and RWBY characters. They will be strictly platonic. That's all I have to say about that.**


End file.
